A New Reality
by Angelauthor14
Summary: Adopted from Leda Medea! Six-year-old Harry is residing at the Dursleys', but he is Remus's last connection to his old friends. And so, with Dumbledore's blessing, he brings Harry to Hogwarts to raise him . . .
1. Reflections of Remus Lupin

Author's note: I adopted this fic from the incredibly talented Leda Medea, lots and lots of thank yous to her for allowing me to continue this! The first ten chapters are completely and totally credited to her as I have only made very minor changes and added a few things and so this is nearly all her work and I have her permission to put it here. After the 10 original chapters I shall continue it and try to live up to her awesomeness!

**A New Reality**

"**This just isn't the way things are supposed to be."**

Remus Lupin was generally classified as a kind, caring individual whose love of books was only exceeded by his sense of duty towards his friends. Knowing this, it was only reasonable for him to be grieving. Even though it had been years since Lily and James died, he still felt as guilty about it as he had the day he heard the news. What if he had been the secret-keeper, instead of Sirius? Would James and Lily still be alive today, still taking care of their baby boy?

Oh, Harry…

Remus remembered all too well Harry's current situation. The six-year-old boy was currently living with Lily's sister and her husband, Petunia and Vernon Dursley. He sank further back into the dusty sofa in his parents old home as he recalled a conversation he had had with Lily a year or so before her death about what horrible people they were.

"They're terrible people, Remus," she had said. "Back in my seventh year of Hogwarts, me and Tuney had been great friends. And then, the Dursleys moved in across the street. Tuney, being the nosy neighbour that she was, volunteered to take over the Lemon Meringue pie mum had baked them as a housewarming gift herself. I remember Vernon, a great big pig of a boy, had answered the door, taken the pie and left Tuney standing there on the porch, looking like a complete idiot. Oddly enough, he had her infatuated. Every day she'd go over to the Dursleys to see Vernon, to talk to him even if it was just for a second…soon enough, Vernon took pity on her and they started to date. He didn't even like her, Remus; he just took her in because he had nothing else to do. Tuney must've realized that he'd never love her like she wanted, but it had come too late; they'd been married ever since Tuney graduated. I guess knowing she was stuck with him turned her so cold…and of course Vernon was just as vile and condescending as when I met him. Now I don't even recognize my sister because of what Vernon turned her into. She resents me and James because of the love we share, and for that I pity her. But I can't forgive her for all the cruel words and actions she's taken against me. I just can't."

Remus sighed as he slid even further back on the sofa, it was the first time he had been back to this old house since his parent's deaths, he thought it would help him. Help to finally lay his guilt at rest, but all it had done was bring back memories. Sweet little baby Harry, so giggly and playful, What kind of people were Lily and James son with? Were they treating him as well as Remus' cub deserved? Or had they not changed from Lily's testimony so many years ago.

It was then that Remus realized he had to do something. The house really had helped him in a way, the haze of sheer guilt and grief had cleared and all was left was the image of little baby Harry; Harry was the only link to his parents that the man had left, and he wasn't about to let the boy come into harm's way. Maybe Dumbledore would be willing to help him.

--/--/- -/--/--

Albus Dumbledore was an incredibly busy man. He helped the Minister with his many duties (the man was a complete imbecile and couldn't do a thing on his own), managed a secret group called the Order of the Phoenix, took care of his school and all of its inhabitants, and was a member of the Wizengamot, not mentioning all of his other duties to the public.

How he managed to find time to sit in his office sucking on Lemon Drops was a mystery even to him. During one such occasion, Albus looked up from his pile of deliciously yellow sweets to find Remus Lupin, one of his favourite old students.

"Remus, my dear boy. What brings you to Hogwarts?"

"Professor Dumbledore…ever since Lily and James died, I've been feeling incredibly guilty. I can't help but feel like I need to do something, anything, to make up what happened to my two friends. I've been thinking about what's happened to Harry after his parents death, and even though I know you think it's best for him…I think the Dursley family is the worst thing for Harry right now. What Harry must think of his family, only knowing the characters of Vernon and Petunia. He's six years old, I understand. But shouldn't he have someone that loves and cares for him while he's growing up, especially after the horror he's gone through already? I feel that I could do so much better for Harry than his relatives do, and I would do absolutely anything to be able to prove that to you. Sir, I'm begging you…I need Harry just as much as he needs me."

Albus mulled it over for a while, a soft smile on his lips. He knew all too well the sort of treatment the boy was experiencing at the Dursley residence, having dropped in a few times himself to check up on the child. The headmaster could see Remus raising Harry to be a caring, hard-working young man. But would it mean Harry was shoved into the spotlight? Would being raised around those who knew that he was a 'saviour' turn his head and affect his character?

The aged headmaster sighed as he pushed a sherbet lemon around his mouth in thought, Remus was a naturally born teacher, he could teach the boy simple lessons such as writing skills and maths but he could also teach the boy to be honest and dependable. He had spent hours debating whether the young man would make a suitable guardian but had decided he was too young and the Potter's deaths too fresh in his mind. Now Remus was older and he seemed in a better state of mind than he had been for quite a few years. Was he now the perfect guardian? Would he, the top student in DADA, be a better protector of Harry than the blood protection he had at the Dursleys? Maybe he could rectify the situation he had put both his boys in.

"Are you sure about this? Do you really feel capable enough to raise a six-year-old emotionally scarred boy?"

Remus dropped to his knees.

"Dumbledore…I know I can do this, I know it. Just give me the chance, and-"

Albus smiled. "You have your chance, Remus. On one condition."

"And what's that?"

"You must raise him here, within the safety wards of Hogwarts. The only reason Harry is placed with the Dursleys is because of his mother's blood protection. As you know, Petunia is Harry's only living relative on his mother's side; the protection flows through her, and keeps Harry as safe as possible. I believe the wards of Hogwarts can protect the boy just as strongly, but when Harry needed to be taken care of, there was no one here that would've had enough time or energy to be with him as he required. If you agree to live with Harry here, then I will concede to having him placed under your care from now on."

Remus gave the man a huge smile and grasped the corner of the desk. "I won't let you down, Professor; I wouldn't dream of it."


	2. Escape from the Dursleys

Author's note: I changed an even tinier amount of this chapter so I would like to emphasise more than ever that the credit for the first chapters goes to Leda Medea! She is the amazing author who wrote this, I have adopted it and am modifying the chapters she has already written slightly and then when those have ran out I shall continue it to the end.

This chapter I only changed odd words and then one little paragraph and so the author is completely Leda Medea, lots of thanks to her for giving me this story!

Hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Please review!

Chapter Two –

"Aghh, you people! Petunia, come quickly!"

Remus was quite offended, but Dumbledore motioned for him to stay quiet. He heard footsteps coming from the kitchen, getting louder until he was looking into the horrid face of Petunia Evans-Dursley. Once he realized that Dumbledore and himself were about to have the door slammed in their faces, he reached out and held the door open.

"We aren't leaving, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. Either open the door and let us in, or we'll stay out on your driveway all night."

Petunia panicked at the thought of the two oddly dressed men standing out there, on HER lawn no less, for all the neighbours to see. She quickly ushered them inside.

The Dursley residence was of fairly decent size, nicely decorated and sparkling clean. The living room held a big screen TV almost twice the size of Dudley (an impressive feat for any object), a couple of cream-colored sofas, and a luxurious mauve armchair. Remus felt a little uncomfortable being in a house so perfect.

The Dursleys gestured the pair towards the nearest sofa reluctantly, where they sat down thankfully; both wizards had lost more than a little sleep over the excitement of bringing Harry to Hogwarts. Remus had gone crazy with anticipation, decorating his and Harry's new living quarters, making sure the little boy had everything any child could want, and planning out this exact moment. The man couldn't wait to see the little boy; it had been so long since they'd been together, did Harry even remember him? Remus supposed not, after all, Harry had only been a year old. But maybe, just maybe, he had a little recollection…?

The werewolf was brought out of his thoughts by Dumbledore's gentle voice, starting to explain to the Dursley family what it was exactly that they wanted.

"…a long time with Harry, something the wizarding world will be forever thankful for. You've taken our hero in and cared for him like your own family, even though he was not. Now, Remus, here, and I know how much of a financial and emotional burden children can be…and hopefully, you will let us relieve you of such struggles. Harry is dear to both of our hearts, and we love and care for him very much. The opportunity has arisen for Harry to be brought up in the Wizarding World, while at the same time being loved and cared for."

Albus paused to gesture towards the eager man beside him.

"Remus Lupin, the spectacular man sitting next to me, is fully capable of raising young Harry the rest of the way. It is our hope that you will allow such an opportunity for young Harry, to let the boy become the permanent charge of dear Remus. Of course, you may still visit the boy any time you like, and spend as long a time with him as possible, for you are his only blood relatives and I imagine are quite close. But I believe it is in all of our best interests to let Harry blossom and become who he was meant to be, to expand his horizons and enter the world his parents loved so much. Harry Potter is a magical boy, wizard or not; and I would hate to see him lose such a vital part of himself."

Remus narrowed his eyes at the jaw-cracking smiles on the Dursleys' faces. Were they really that eager to rid themselves of James and Lily's son?

"Ah, we- we accept! We, ah – we know how…important it is for the bo- for Harry, to be..himself. We wouldn't want to take him away from that. When do you want him to leave with you?"

Dumbledore smiled. He had known that the Dursleys would be more than eager to get rid of Harry, judging by the many accounts of her sister than Lily had given Remus. Albus had figured that playing dumb had been the best back when Harry had no other options, but now, the boy was free of his horrible relatives and back where he belonged.

"I believe any time would be sufficient, Remus? Yes, yes, we could even take him with us right now."

"Yes! And, uh, we wouldn't want to get in the way of his, uh, growth- so it's not necessary for us to visit with him."

"How generous, Mr. Dursley. And might I ask where our young Harry might be?"

Petunia jumped up suddenly, as if she had been sitting on a stinger.

"Oh! Oh, ah – I'll, go get him. Get him right now."

The woman hurried from the room and into the hallway, shouting, "Come out, Harry! We need to talk to you!"

Seeing Harry come out of a small cupboard was a very peculiar and overwhelming experience for Remus. Why was the boy in the cupboard? Was he playing? Or were the Dursleys even worse than he feared, even going as far as mistreatment?

Secondly, what would Harry say to coming to live with Remus? How would he react to magic? Lupin knew the Dursleys hadn't informed Harry of what he was, after spying on the couple for a while. He didn't feel the slightest bit guilty for it, either. He had just been checking on the boy, it had been a few years ago now though and Harry had changed a lot.

Remus couldn't believe that during those long, scorching hot days sitting around watching the family he had never picked up on Harry being in a cupboard, even now when he looked back he didn't remember him even hanging around near those stairs.

"Yes, Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia?"

How Remus wanted to scoop the boy up and cradle him in his arms, but he didn't; he restrained himself from scaring little Harry just yet. They needed to inform Harry of what was going to happen and who he was before any of that.

"Ah, Ha- Harry," Vernon stuttered, as if it was unusual for him to say, "these two men here are…friends, of your parents. They've come to ask if you would like to, ah, live with them."

Harry pulled a puzzled face. Remus rolled his eyes; great, Dursley had screwed his whole explanation up. But he smiled and started to speak.

"Harry, my name is Remus, Remus Lupin. I was very, very close to your mum and dad, and I've come to see if you'd like to live with me. I know you don't know me. I know you might be frightened, but I assure you, I knew you as a little baby and saw you almost as much as your own parents did. It's your own choice, and I fully understand if you don't want-"

"Are you mad!"

Remus's stomach dropped, thinking Harry was going to fully reject his offer. But instead, Harry said, "Sorry, I just, I think that'd be amazing, sir. Really. When do we leave?"

Remus was surprised. He had hoped for the boy to warm up to him, but this quickly was a little disconcerting. Why was he so eager to leave?

"Ah, we can leave right now if you would like –"

"Really? I suppose I'll go and pack my things, then…"

And Harry zoomed out of the room.

Albus chuckled, saying "What an enthusiastic little boy."

A little too enthusiastic, if you asked Remus Lupin. As he considered just why the boy wanted to leave so soon, Harry bounded down the stairs, carrying an extremely light bag and an extra pair of trainers.

"Alright, Mr. Remoose, sir. I'm ready to go now."


	3. Arrival at Hogwarts

Author's note: Again, I must emphasise that the first few chapters of this were written by Leda Medea and I am simply amending and adding parts to my liking (I haven't added much so far though!) and so the credit for them goes to Leda Medea.

Thank you so much for the reviews!

Chapter Three –

"Remus," Dumbledore whispered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he stood next to his former student. "I don't believe young Harry knows about our world- or who he is within it. It is your call of course, as you are his guardian. But I believe the boy should be told everything before too long."

Ah, yes. Of course Harry wouldn't know his past, as the Dursleys hated it passionately. Remus hadn't considered what to tell the boy in this situation, instead spending his time imagining all the fun he and Harry would have together. What should he say?

Dumbledore coughed, bringing Remus to attention.

"Ah, Albus…I hadn't considered exactly what to tell Harry in this situation. Do you think you could…?"

Albus chuckled. "I understand, Remus. I will help you tell Harry. Now, let's get the boy back to Hogwarts before he changes his mind!"

With another soft chuckle, Dumbledore motioned Harry, who had been watching the quiet conversation curiously and slightly apprehensively, towards them. The trio said their goodbyes to the Dursley family and walked out the front door, towards the car Dumbledore had enlisted Kingsley Shacklebolt to drive for him. The man had owed him a favour, and had been more than happy to repay it.

"So Kingsley," Remus laughed as they settled into the back seats. "How'd you come to know how to drive a muggle car? It's a bit fascinating to me, really, seeing you behind the steering wheel."

Kinsley chuckled in his deep, loud tone. "On an auror mission actually. Had to chase a particularly crazy traveller in a mini van!"

Harry, seated in the middle of Dumbledore and Remus, yanked on the younger adult's sleeve.

"Mr Remoose?"

Remus looked down at the boy, trying to appear comforting. "Yes, Harry?"

"What's a…muggle, sir? And what's an auror?"

Oops.

"Well, Harry, an auror is kind of like a police man where we're from."

"And a muggle, sir?"

Remus sighed and looked towards Dumbledore.

"Alright, Harry," Remus began. "What do you know about what happened…before you came to live with the Dursleys?"

"Nothing particular, sir," Harry shrugged. "Uncle Vernon told me that my parents were drunks with no jobs and no place to live. They died in a car crash when I was little and my aunt and uncle had to take me in."

Silence took over the car. Harry squirmed. "Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to."

"Harry." Dumbledore spoke. "Your parents were not drunks, nor anything of that sort. They were respectable, good people with the best intentions and biggest love in their hearts for you."

"But…why would they lie to me about that?"

Remus took over. "You see Harry, your mother and your aunt never really got along too well. Petunia and Lily were very different women, and they never were able to reconcile their differences. Petty though it may be, your aunt still holds that grudge, and I'm afraid she took it out on her sister's only legacy."

Harry looked a little shell-shocked. "But, sir, if she lied about that, then why did they have to take me in?"

"Your parents weren't killed in a car crash, Harry. They were killed by a bad, bad man, someone more terrible than I hope you ever have to face."

"Killed? But...why?"

Remus paused. "Your parents had something that this man wanted…and they wouldn't give it up, not for the world. So he went and made sure they couldn't refuse him any longer."

"What did they have? What was the evil man's name? Why didn't-"

Albus cleared his throat. "I'm afraid the rest of this conversation will have to take place in my office, boys. We're on the edge of the grounds."

Harry blushed, embarrassed to realize how fast he was talking and how demanding he had been.

Remus furrowed his brow, but realized a second later that Dumbledore had charmed the car to move faster than should be possible. He laughed quietly – Dumbledore sure was a tricky blighter.

The foursome stepped out of the car and onto the lustrous grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Wicked!" Harry exclaimed, craning his neck to see the full view of the castle. "This is where I live now, sir?"

Everyone laughed. "Yeah it is, Harry, unless you want to go back."

"Never sir, this is amazing!"

They walked across the grounds towards the castle, Shacklebolt a little behind them. You could never be too safe, even at Hogwarts. Dumbledore didn't believe that Voldemort had completely vanished the night Harry's parents died, and wanted the boy to be completely safe 24/7.

"Alright, so we should probably be properly introduced, shouldn't we?" Shacklebolt boomed.

"You're right Kingsley, I completely forgot," Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes. Harry, my name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, but you can call me anything you like. With the exception of various unflattering words, of course." He winked.

"And I'm Kingsley Shacklebolt, an auror for the Ministry Of-"

Remus cut him off abruptly on the word 'magic', introducing himself. "I'm Remus Lupin, of course. You can call me Moony, as that's my most frequently used nickname." He didn't tell Harry the real reason he wanted to be called Moony – it was the only way he could remember his days as a marauder.

Harry smiled shyly. "I'm just Harry, nice to meet you all."

Even Kingsley laughed at that. The foursome had reached the castle doors and Dumbledore held his hand up in front of them before anyone could enter.

"Harry, some things you're about to see are going to seem incredibly strange to you, but I ask you not to question them until we reach my office."

"Yes sir, I promise not to ask about anything."

" In that case, let's continue!"

And they stepped through Hogwarts doors…

--


	4. You're a Wizard, Harry

Author's note: Once again, this chapter was written by Leda Medea with _very_ few alterations by myself. She also added an explanation of Harry's behaviour to this chapter and I believe it explains everything so well I would include it here, it clears up any confusion of why Harry is so trusting and is, like much of the chapter, Leda's own words and so I shall put it in quote marks.

This chapter is "trying to clear up the confusion as to why Harry was so trusting. See, I imagined Harry to be an impressionable little boy who was only looking to be loved. He only saw how kind Dumbledore and Remus were, versus how cold and mean the Dursleys were, and picked which option he thought was better. I mean, he's only six. He doesn't know any better."

Hope that clears up any confusion! Oh and before I forget, I am going on holiday on Monday 28th June and I shall not be back until August 2nd. There will be no updates in that time as I will not have internet access, I just wanted to let you know so you didn't think I had abandoned the story.

Now onto the chapter!

Chapter 4:

_Ooooh…_

Harry Potter had just entered Hogwarts castle for the first time, and was quite amazed, to say the least. He had many questions, but remembered the old grey man's warning and bit down hard on his lips to stop the flood of questions coming out. The Dursleys hated questions too.

_Bloody Hell!_

Harry had looked up into the great hall to see the beautiful, cloudless and sunny sky charmed into the ceiling. Inwardly he rebuked himself for his foul language, a habit he had unfortunately picked up from Dudley and his gang. Although he was but six years old, he had an extensive knowledge of vulgarities, having had them hurled at him by his peers on a daily basis. He shuddered to himself, thinking of the daily 'Harry Hunting's' Dudley's crew insisted upon. Usually he came out the winner, being a fairly excellent runner. But sometimes he was caught, usually by Piers Polkiss, and beaten into submission while being screamed at for no particular reason. Harry realized he never had to go through another hunt again, suddenly, and smiled.

_This castle is enormous…almost as big as our whole neighbourhood! I don't think they'll make me sleep in a cupboard here..._

Harry hadn't really thought much about leaving the Dursley household so abruptly; the only thing he wanted was to get away, and fast. The two men looked nice enough, if a little strange…and nothing could be worse than living with the Dursley family.

The younger man, Ray-moose, or something weird like that…had said he was a friend of Harry's parents. Harry had never really known the two, as his aunt and uncle held a particular disdain for anything concerning Harry's parents and refused to talk about them at all in their 'normal' household. Pretending he wasn't hurt by his relatives' actions, Harry focused instead on his surroundings, making sure to remember (or at least try) what path they were taking.

"All right, young one. You may ask your questions now."

Harry's eyes bugged as they reached the top of the winding stairs and arrived into a very large, very _strange _office…or something like that. Curious objects, ranging in size, colour, shape, and volume, covered almost all of the room, save the portraits on the walls, the desk in the middle of the floor, and the black stand Harry could only assume was a bird's perch. He gasped as he realized he had been correct; a large, crimson-coloured bird appeared in a burst of flames and sat upon the perch, caw-ing at Harry curiously. Harry's eyes widened and he looked at the wizened old man to his left.

"Ah, I'm presuming Fawkes is your first question?"

Harry nodded. Thousands of other questions still swimming in his mind.

"Fawkes is a phoenix, Harry. Phoenixes are very rare, very impressive birds with amazing talents, such as the fire transport as you just witnessed. You will probably never see another phoenix in your lifetime, as it is almost unheard of to see one at all. Fawkes came into my possession after a long journey I took through the Forest of Gamar…I had been on the journey for quite some time when I found him, perching on a high branch in an olive tree, singing a phoenix song. He followed me back to my home, and has been my companion ever since."

"Oh," Harry said softly. "He's very pretty."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes, yes he is. Why don't you go introduce yourself? Fawkes looks a bit curious as to who you are."

Harry walked over to the magnificent bird perched next to Dumbledore's desk and said softly, "Hello Fawkes. My name is Harry Potter. You're very pretty."

Fawkes let out a chirp and flew onto Harry's shoulder, making the little boy giggle in delight.

"Ah, I see he's taken a liking to you!" Dumbledore chuckled. "You may come see him any time you wish."

Harry grinned in gratitude at the man before turning back to stroking the bird in front of him. "Sir," he began, "why did you come get me? I mean, I'm glad you did, very glad, sir. But why-"

Remus answered. "Harry, I know this is strange for you. I must admit, it's a little odd for all of us. You see, Harry, after what happened when you were a baby, no one was prepared for the enormous task to raise a child except for your aunt and uncle. We-" Remus coughed and then corrected himself.

"Well…Dumbledore, thought that you would grow up loved and adored in their household, being told all about your parents and cherished like their own son. We were wrong. But by the time we had realized this, you were already six, and the damage was done. I hope you know, Harry, that you were not treated so dismally because no one loved you- the opposite is true. We all cared for you so much that we wanted the best for you, and we…he, thought the Dursley family could provide that whereas we could not."

"I understand, Mr. Remoose."

Remus chuckled. "Just call me Moony, Harry."

"Okay, Moony... What did you mean earlier, if you don't mind me asking? You said an auror is like a policeman in your world. Why do you have a different world, sir?"

Remus paused. How was he even supposed to begin to explain the wizarding world to a six-year-old child? Especially the child who was the famous boy-who-lived? Seeing the younger man's confusion, Dumbledore cleared his throat and began his explanation to the little boy.

"Harry…have you ever done something you couldn't explain? Ever made something happen when it should have been impossible, possibly when you were particularly angry or scared?"

Harry could recall dozens of times he'd had strange things happen while he was in a particularly strong mood, but he didn't want the two men to think he was a freak…so he shrugged his shoulders.

Dumbledore smiled softly. "Harry, it's completely normal. What you've done is something only some people can do. Do you know what magic is, Harry?"

Harry's eyes widened as he slowly nodded. "But…are you saying…I'm a-"

"You're a wizard, Harry."


	5. Fainting, Feasting and Foes

Author's note: Hey everyone! I'm back from hols! And finally bringing to you chapter five, hope you enjoy it! Once again, Leda Medea wrote these first chapters and I am simply posting them with minor alterations and then continuing the fic and attempting to live up to her talent.

Now, onto….Chapter Five

Perhaps he hadn't been completely tactful when he'd introduced Harry to the Wizarding Community. In retrospect, he hadn't honestly thought the boy would faint when he found out about the whole thing…but now, he could see why. After all, Harry's aunt and uncle had always stayed clear of anything they considered 'abnormal', and it was about as far from the Dursley's version of normal as you could get to be a wizard. Unfortunately, he hadn't realized that when the boy was fully conscious. As he stared at the unconscious boy in front of him, he suddenly felt unsure of his actions during the past few weeks. Were he and Remus doing the right thing by the boy, taking him away from the only home he'd ever known and placing him in a world he'd thought was pure fiction?

Yes, he answered himself, and lifted the boy off the ground and into a comfy arm chair in his office. Harry was destined to be a wizard, he could feel it in his very bones. Not just because the boy had survived the impossible as a baby, no. Albus knew Harry was special besides his lucky past. The boy was talented, the wizard knew. And he had looked as if he loved everything about Hogwarts Castle as they had walked up to his office. No, Harry had only fainted because he was excited. Yes, yes, that's right. That's completely –

"Unnnnghhhhh…oh no. What happened?"

Albus stopped his inward commentary patted the boy softly on the shoulder. "Harry, you fainted, my boy. I'm afraid I put a little shock through your system."

"Oh yeah." Harry said suddenly. "You told me I was a wizard…but sir, I can't be a wizard. I'm nothing special, I'm...I'm just Harry! Just Harry Potter!"

"I suppose you need to see it to believe it, then," Remus laughed. "Alright, sit up and watch closely."

Harry, to be completely honest, thought his two rescuers were slightly crazy, but he humoured the man nevertheless and paid attention.

"Alright, Harry, I'm going to turn this quill into a pitcher full of pumpkin juice. Are you ready?"

Harry nodded, and suddenly, the quill on Dumbledore's desk was instead a pitcher of pumpkin juice! Clearing his eyes and hoping he wasn't just seeing things, Harry was amazed to see that the pitcher of pumpkin juice was, indeed, still there, sitting where the quill had been just moments ago.

"How'd you do that!?"

Remus laughed. "Do you believe me now, Harry?"

"I think so, sir! That was brilliant!"

Harry, Dumbledore, and Moony walked down to the Great Hall, Harry asking random questions all the while. They'd covered why the paintings moved and talked, what house elves were, how to use and buy a wand, what Hogwarts taught (besides just general magic), the four houses, what made the ceiling of the great hall look like the sky outside, and they were touching on the subject of ghosts when Sir Nicholas popped up out of the floor in front of them.

"Nick! We were just talking about you! Well, not necessarily you, but-"

The ghost laughed. "I know, I know, I heard you, Albus. Now if you will excuse me, I'm looking for- by Jove, is that Harry Potter?"

Remus frowned. He'd been hoping no one would treat Harry any differently until Harry knew _why_ it was happening…too late. Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"Yes it is, Nick, but if you'll excuse us, we're late for dinner in the Great Hall."

Seeing the dismissal for what it was, Sir Nicholas nodded. "Yes, Professor, I shall be on my way then. Good to meet you Mister Potter, I hope you shall become a Gryffindor…my old house, you know. Alright, I'm off. Take care!"

Harry's eyes had been as wide as they could go for a long while, and he had to blink to get some moisture back into them. "That was a g-ghost."

Of course, it had just been explained to Harry that yes, ghosts did exists, but it was another thing entirely to _see_ one. He was only six, after all, and Dudley's tales of the haunted house next to their school didn't bode well in his imagination. He shivered.

"Yes Harry, Sir Nicholas is a ghost, but he is as human in heart as you can be. Now, I see that we've arrived to the Great Hall…care to take your seats, boys?"

Suddenly, Harry took in the room that was so different than it had been when he'd arrived. The four tables that took up the whole hall had been replaced with one white marble table that would seat them all quite comfortably. He saw the people already sitting at the table and suddenly became very shy.

Dumbledore noticed his discomfort and greeted the staff warmly. "Hello everyone, as you see Harry has arrived. Harry, make yourself comfortable anywhere you want."

Taking Dumbledore up on his offer, Harry sat in the free seat next to a man with long, black, slightly greasy hair. It was better to sit next to him than any of the other staff members, who were all looking at him like he was some sort of farm animal. Harry was content to sit next to the man that didn't seem to be gawping at him.

"Hello." Harry introduced himself shyly, noticing the professor look up at him. "My name is Harry Potter, pleased to meet you."

The greasy elder man scowled at him, and Harry's eyes widened slightly.

Feeling Dumbledore's eyes upon him he realised that the headmaster was expecting him to reply to the brat. "I am Professor Snape, Potter. I teach potions…something I doubt you will excel at once you become a Hogwarts student. Don't expect special treatment here, Potter, for you'll be sorely disappointed."

That was all the man said for the rest of the meal, but Harry was grateful. The potions professor was a little scary. Finishing his meal, Harry wondered what he had done to anger the man so badly. One thing was for sure, and that was Harry would win the man over eventually. He didn't know what had caused the man to hate him, but he was determined to change his mind before long.

--

End of another chapter, and to finish here is an explanation on Snape's appearance by Leda Medea which fitted in nicely and will answer any questions about him, I think, if not then feel free to ask. So yeah, this was an explanation from the original 'A New Reality' and was written by Leda Medea, not me.

"We can't have a bazillion people all loving Harry and giving him a big head, now can we? Snape will hopefully be the balancing force that keeps Harry humbled as he grows up in the wizarding world. If you were six years old and everyone you knew worshipped the ground you walked on…you'd turn out like Malfoy did. –shudder-"

Hope you liked the chapter, please review!


	6. Brooding and Becoming Famous

Author's note: Leda Medea owns this first few chapters, not me, I just make tiny alterations. Thanks so much for the reviews everyone! This chapter is dedicated to Stars137, who is a completely amazing person who I admire and appreciate very much.

Chapter Six!

Professor Severus Snape slammed the door to his personal quarters, bubbling with fury. Contrary to popular belief, this was a rarity. Yes, the man did appear to be the volatile, angry sort, but he only put on that persona for all the public to see. Although the Dark Lord had seemingly disappeared the night of the Potters death, Severus Snape knew better. Voldemort had taken drastic measures to insure his immortality while Snape had been in his service, and as long as these measures hadn't been eliminated, Voldemort would still be alive.

So Severus kept his Death Eater persona still, appearing to everyone else to be on the side of the dark. He came off as shockingly angry and callous here at Hogwarts, and everyone else in the world, but in reality he was a calm man, prone to quick annoyance, but never fury.

But yet, Professor Snape was furious. And it was all because of that Potter brat.

Everyone insisted on _coddling_ the brainless child, treating him as though he could do no wrong. But Severus saw the boy for what he _really_ was – the spoiled son of James Potter. The two were almost exactly the same in his eyes, exceedingly arrogant with a certain disregard for rules or anything else considered civilized. It infuriated him that Potter was given such a gigantic privilege that he did not deserve, to be placed inside Hogwarts as a mere _six year old boy _and given everything he so desperately wanted, just because he was an orphan. How dare Dumbledore agree to something so obviously favouring of the awful child? He was flabbergasted. The only reason the old coot was agreeing to this was the damn scar on the boy's forehead.

Sitting down in his favourite emerald green arm chair, Snape let out a sigh of frustration. He needed to remain calm, if he was ever going to convince the headmaster what was happening was wrong.

Something inside him squirmed, though. He wondered how bad the Dursleys treatment of the boy had to be, if Dumbledore agreed to take him out of the impenetrable wards around the house. He quickly squashed that; it was favouritism, nothing more, nothing less. Just favouritism.

Maybe he could take some of the big-headedness out of the boy, before it was too late. Yes, that's what he would do. He'd deflate the little boy's ego before it had a chance to evolve into anything major.

Remus sat by the fire in his and Harry's quarters, thinking of what he could say to Harry about who he was in the Wizarding World. He would need to tell him soon, no doubt. But it was nearing bed time for the two, and as he glanced at Harry's sleeping form on the couch, he realized he'd been staring at the fire longer than he'd thought. _Ah, well. Better put him to bed then._

"Harry, wake up now."

"Nghh…sorry Uncle Vernon…didn't mean to fall asleep-"

"Harry it's Moony, remember? We're at Hogwarts now, it's time to go to bed."

Harry blinked. "Oh, okay. Sorry I fell asleep though, I really shouldn't have…"

"Nonsense. It's my fault for not putting you to bed sooner. Now come on, your eyes are drooping already."

The two made their way to the archway that Harry's room was located in, where upon entering, the boy gasped and smiled. "This is my room?"

Remus took in all of what he had prepared for the boy the past month, and smiled. The large four-poster bed took up much of the room, as it was very large. The bathroom held a shower and a bath tub, and was decorated with colours of blue, green, and silver. The main room was a light beige with various earth tones to compliment it. He hadn't wanted to make the room any house colours and bias Harry in any way, so he kept it to tans and whites. He looked nervously at Harry, hoping he liked it, and was answered by a big hug around his legs. Remus chuckled.

"So you like it, I presume…"

"Yeah, it's brilliant! Thank you!"

Remus turned down Harry's covers and tucked the boy in, smiling. "I hope you're happy here, Harry. I know we're all ecstatic to have you around."

Harry smiled softly, his eyes already drooping. "Yeah…it's perfect. Thank you…Moony. You're all perfect…too…"

And with that, Harry was asleep. Remus smiled gently and made his way to his own room for the night, thanking Merlin Harry was enjoying himself. He would do Lily and James proud, and take care of their son as best he could.

The next day, Dumbledore took Remus and Harry to his office and sat them down, preparing to tell Harry about his celebrity status in their world.

"Harry, I brought you up here to talk to you about a few things we didn't feel comfortable with telling you yesterday. Nothing too dreadful of course, but you already had a lot to take in, and we wanted you to be as comfortable as possible."

Harry nodded shyly. "What've you got to tell me, sir?"

Dumbledore tapped his gnarled, old fingers on the top of his desk and looked down. This was going to be difficult for the little boy to bear. He hoped he could tell him as gently as possible.

"Harry, yesterday we told you that an evil wizard killed your parents. Do you remember this?"

"Yes, sir…"

"That's right. Harry. Voldemort, the wizard who killed your parents, was on a quest to become the most powerful wizard to ever exist. He would do anything to install fear into the hearts of others, making everyone _know_ he was someone to be respected, feared, held in high regard. Doing anything, unfortunately, meant killing innocent people to further himself in what he wanted. Your parents were known supporters of the light, Harry, and they refused to help Voldemort in any way. Your parents had to go into hiding to escape from the terrors Lord Voldemort could inflict upon them, but he found them, and tried to take what he wanted from them. But they wouldn't let him have anything. They fought to keep their lives, Harry, and when it was clear they would be no match for the wizard, your mother gave her life to save you. This is a very old type of magic, Harry, a magic borne from love and desperation. Lord Voldemort wasn't expecting this, and preformed the killing curse on you, to finalize his destruction. But instead of you dying, the curse bounced off, leaving Voldemort without a body, and you with just that scar on your forehead. Voldemort was defeated that night."

Remus put his face in his hands, but Dumbledore continued.

"Harry, it was thought impossible to survive the killing curse, but that night, you did it, as a baby no less. You can see how shocked and awed the Wizarding community was to see such a powerful man defeated by a mere baby. You became sort of a celebrity overnight here. All of a sudden, the most powerful, feared, and destructive wizard alive, the man who had killed countless witches and wizards, was suddenly gone, seemingly because of a mere baby boy. You can see how big a story that was, and soon, Harry Potter was a household name."

Harry was shocked. How could anyone think it had been him? It was all his mother's doing. She had protected him, she should get the credit, not him. He told Dumbledore so.

"Yes Harry, your mother did defend you. But people believe what they want to believe and see what they want to see. And they wanted to see someone who could still defend them."

Harry groaned inwardly. That was just so unfair to his mum, after everything she'd done for him…he frowned. Is this why Snape didn't like him? Because he was famous for nothing? He asked the two wizards.

"Now, Harry, I'm sure Professor Snape doesn't hate you. He just isn't the most cheerful of characters. I understand you may be a little confused and upset, learning all of this after being told something completely different all of you life. But I assure you, you can come to us any time, and any questions you have will be answered."

"Okay, I have a question." Harry said. "You said Vol-Volday...Voldeemoot was left without a body…but does that mean he didn't die?"

Dumbledore had been hoping the boy wouldn't have picked up on that. "It's pronounced Vol-De-Mort, Harry. And no, I do not believed he died, although most of the Wizarding world does. I believe he's just biding his time, waiting until something comes along that will strengthen him again. But there is nothing to suggest that will happen, so we are safe. Don't worry."

Harry nodded, although his stomach didn't feel quite so secure. "I believe you, Professor, sir."

The man frowned, but nodded. "I assure you, Harry, you are perfectly safe, as you have always been. Nothing has changed. Now, go on back to your quarters with Remus. I'm sure you two have a lot to discuss."

Harry nodded and let Remus lead him back to their quarters, saying a goodbye to the Headmaster. The whole way back, all he thought was, '_Why does this stuff always happen to me?'_


	7. Harry Turns Seven

Author's note: Here is the next chapter! I really hope you enjoy it!

Credit for this chapter goes to Leda Medea! All the chapters up to number ten were written by her and I have just made tiny alterations.

Oh, and in case anyone wondered Hermione isn't in this chapter because she is muggle-born and it was only known witches and wizards who were invited to the party. Except Dean, I know he _thinks_ he's muggleborn until DH but he was included in Leda Medea's original and, although I could remove him in this one, I think he's a rather endearing seven year old. I did take him out briefly and then read it through but I didn't like it so much so Dean stays.

Chapter Seven –

Harry Potter's birthday was coming up later in the week, and Remus was desperately trying to throw the boy the best birthday bash possible. With Dumbledore's help, he had pulled together a hopefully amazing party in the Hogwarts Great Hall. The two adults had invited a couple of young witches and wizards which would some day be Harry's fellow classmates, such as Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley, Dean Thomas, Susan Bones, and Luna Lovegood. Hopefully, Harry would make some friends at his party, and have a nice birthday. Remus understood Harry had never had a birthday party before, and therefore he felt it was his duty to pull off something unbelievable. In that mindset, it was easy to understand why he was having trouble finding the perfect gift for Harry. After tossing and turning mostly all of the night, Remus decided to get Harry many things that would make him happy…at the same time staying within Remus's modest budget. Of course, Harry had no idea he was having any sort of celebration for his seventh birthday, and Remus was hoping to keep it that way.

Harry Potter was thoroughly enjoying his new life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Remus Lupin, his new guardian, was unbelievably kind to him, as was Dumbledore and the rest of the Hogwarts staff. _Well, _Harry thought, _most of the Hogwarts staff anyways._

Indeed, one of the people in his new home was downright nasty to him. Severus Snape, Potions Professor to the school, seemed to have something against Harry, more than just a tiny bit of dislike. After constantly questioning Remus about it, the man had told him that the snarky professor and his own late father hadn't gotten along during their school days, and thought it was possible that Snape was still harbouring ill feelings, passing them off onto James's son. Harry thought this to be entirely unfair, and it made him all the more determined to win the professor over.

Harry awoke the morning of his seventh birthday just as if it had been another, regular day. He went through the motions of beginning his day just as he always did; running a (fairly useless) comb through his untidy hair, putting on an outfit Remus had insisted on buying him, brushing his teeth, cleaning his glasses, and stepping out of his room to see Remus.

Harry gasped a little to see Remus waiting for him on the sofa, a stack of presents resting on the coffee table in front of him. Remus smiled and patted the seat next to him, signalling to the boy to sit. "Happy birthday, Harry. Want to go ahead and open your presents?

Harry , eyes wide, took a seat next to Remus. "These are…for me?"

Remus nodded.

Harry couldn't believe it. He'd never gotten anything for his birthday before, and to see his new guardian giving him all these presents overwhelmed him. The man was kind, and supporting, and (dare he say it) almost loving towards him, even though they hadn't known each other for even a month. To know that Remus was willing to spend money on him was mind blowing to the little boy. It was too much for the now seven-year-old, and he hid his face in his guardian's shoulder while he cried. Remus shifted the boy onto his lap and rubbed his back while he cried, trying to soothe the little boy. He hadn't expected this reaction, certainly; but he understood where it had come from.

"Harry," Remus said gently, "You know that your aunt and uncle were completely wrong in treating you the way they did, don't you? You're one of a kind, Harry. I want you to remember that."

Harry sniffled and slowly disentangled himself from his guardian, a little embarrassed of his outburst. "Yes, sir, I know they were wrong. Thank you."

Remus nodded. "Now what do you say we open these presents before someone else ups and takes them, eh?" The two laughed, and Harry dug into his first present. He tore away the sparkly blue wrapping paper, excited to see what he had gotten. He opened the box his present was in to find a box of chocolates. But it wasn't any ordinary box of chocolates; no, it was more chocolate than Harry had ever seen in his life. This box was HUGE, more than anything the Dursleys had ever given Dudley, and that was saying something. There were four levels of chocolates, with about twenty chocolates on each level. Harry was ecstatic.

"Oh wow, thank you so much Remus! This is unbelievable, how'd you find all this chocolate?"

Remus laughed. "It's Honeydukes finest, Harry. Nothing less for you. Now, open the others."

Harry complied. From Remus, he also received a pair of Wizarding sneakers (they could hover a couple inches off the ground, change to any colour you wanted them to, and change size to fit your feet perfectly), a book called 'Welcome to Magic; an In-Depth Guide on How the Wizarding World Works for Younger Wizards', and his favourite; a snowy white owl.

Remus had made sure Harry opened it last, seeing as he thought it to be the most special. Harry appeared to think so too. "She's all yours, Harry. You can name her anything you like. She can carry post or just be your companion, which I think is all you'll need right now."

Harry didn't say anything, just stroked his new owl and bubbled with happiness. He turned and gave his guardian a hug, not trusting himself to speak. He had already cried once today; it was stupid to do so again.

The two sat there for a while, just hugging and talking about nothing in particular. Harry hadn't known of what to name his new owl, so he asked Remus for suggestions. "It's not my decision, Harry. I can give you a book of famous Wizarding figures to look through for names you like, if you really want."

Harry nodded.

"Alright, well, we'll get to that later. Right now, we have to get ready for lunch. Let's see if we can do something for that hair of yours; your father never could quite manage it, you know."

Harry giggled in delight. "Tell me more about him, please, Moony. The Dursleys would never talk about them."

Remus sighed. "Alright, Harry. First thing that comes to mind about your father is what a prankster he was. No matter what was happening at the time, James always had to crack a joke or do something funny. And he was very, very funny. Almost anything he said was meant to make you laugh. He was also extremely loyal, and honest to a fault. Your father was loved by everyone at Hogwarts, for the most part, because he was so kind to everyone he met. And he was always up for a challenge. He was very bright, and very headstrong, making him a sort of role model to all of us at Hogwarts. Most people wanted to be his friend. He was Head Boy, but not a prefect…let's see…"

Harry smiled wistfully, wondering what it would've been like to know his father. But he stopped suddenly, and looked up at his guardian. "Remus, if all that's true…then why does Professor Snape hate him so?"

Remus grimaced. That would be tough to explain. "Harry, remember how I said your father was a major prankster?"

Harry nodded.

"Yes, well, naturally, there came a time when James thought it would be funny to prank Severus Snape. Most people in Hogwarts had been on the receiving end of James' sense of humour, and all took it in good fun, so James didn't see anything wrong with his idea. He played a prank on Severus, and he didn't take it in good humour at all. Severus was always very concentrated on being serious, quite the opposite of James. He's hated your father ever since. Quite silly, really, Harry. But the two were so stubborn that they never got past it."

Harry nodded. "Oh, that's awful. I hope my dad didn't do anything too bad, though."

Remus laughed at his memory. "Oh, no, not really. He only spelled Severus's hair Gryffindor colours for a couple of hours."

Harry held back a giggle. "Oh, well I guess that's good, then."

Moony nodded. "Now, let's go tackle that head of yours."

After Harry's hair was as manageable as they could get it, the two made it down to the Great Hall. Harry thought it would be just like any normal lunch, but instead, when he got to the Great Hall he was greeted by a loud 'SURPRISE!' and many smiling, strange faces. His eyes widened.

"Uh, hello…thank you."

Harry felt out of place with all these loud, happy children running around, having fun. He looked up at Remus, only to see an encouraging smile. He smiled back and took the seat Moony directed him to.

Soon, all the children were in their seats, smiling eagerly at Harry. He didn't know any of them until Dumbledore spoke up.

"Harry, my boy, Happy Birthday! I've taken the liberty of inviting a couple of future Hogwarts students your own age here today, they're all quite nice. Would you like me to introduce them?"

Harry smiled shyly at Dumbledore and nodded, touched that the man had done such a thoughtful thing for him.

"Very well. We have with us today Mr. Ron Weasley, Miss Luna Lovegood, Mr. Neville Longbottom, Mr. Dean Thomas, and Miss Susan Bones. Children, as you all know this is Harry Potter."

All the children smiled and talked loudly, being young and vivacious as they always were. Everyone except Luna, that is, who was poking her slice of cake curiously. She leaned over to Harry and whispered, in a strange, floaty kind of voice, "I'm checking for Cake Crunching Crumpers, my dad says there's at least one in every cake you bake."

Harry nodded and dug into his cake, careful to check for any of the strange creatures Luna was talking about. Dean Thomas, the boy on his left, nudged him and said, "Happy birthday, mate! I turned seven a couple months ago, it's a whole lot better than being six, let me tell you…"

Harry happily let himself become friends with the children around him, glad that Dudley wasn't here to take them all away. He had spoken to Ron, who had told him he had a younger sister named Ginny who would be there but was sick with Wizard's flu, and he had just gotten into a conversation with Luna about what the Crumpers looked like when Dumbledore spoke up again. "Harry, I think it's time you opened your presents."

He looked up at Dumbledore with wide, curious eyes. He had thought that Remus's presents were more than enough; how could anyone possibly want to get him more? He gasped as a stack of presents was levitated in front of him, and all the children's plates vanished.

Remus spoke up. "Open them, Harry. I'm sure they're fantastic."

Harry grinned and once again tore off his presents' wrappings. He had gotten a jar of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans from Ron (Ron said they even had vomit flavor, but Harry didn't know if he should believe him), a set of bangles from Luna, who said they were from the wrist of a famous gypsy, a Puddlemere United cap from Dean Thomas, a fake wand that shot out different coloured light from Susan Bones, and a curious orb called a remembrall from Neville, who explained to him what exactly it did.

"If you forget something, the orb glows red inside. Problem is it doesn't say what you've forgotten."

Harry laughed and thanked everyone for their amazing presents.

"Harry, I'm afraid you're not quite finished with your gifts yet." Dumbledore said suddenly, smiling. "This is from me, I hope you enjoy it."

Harry looked at the strange, long box covered in half-moon wrapping paper before him and tore into it, lifting the lid and furrowing his brow at what he saw.

A tiny broom?

Remus and Dumbledore both laughed at his bewildered expression. "Remus and I are going to teach you how to fly, Harry, if you feel up to it. That's a miniature broom for beginners, the Cleansweep Seven Mini. We'll try as soon as you want to."

Harry's eyes lit up. People could actually fly here? He gave an enthusiastic thank you to the headmaster and said, "Can we try it out tomorrow, sir?"

Dumbledore consented, and Harry said thank you once again before turning his attention back to his new friends. He, Ron, Neville, Luna, and Susan played Hide and Seek, and other children's games, up until it was time for everyone to leave. It was about six o'clock when everyone left, seeing as how they had to get home for dinner. Harry smiled brightly; he'd had the best birthday ever.


	8. Flying and the Thoughts of Severus Snape

Author's note: Leda Medea owns the story up to chapter ten; she has just very graciously let me borrow it so I can continue it from there. J K Rowling owns all the characters and everything else you recognise. Now we've clarified that; hope you enjoy the chapter!

Oh!!! And my NEWS!!! I decided to make this fic a DU story!!! (DU-daily update) so every day I shall be updating and so…as it is going to have 30 chapters, that means it will be complete on September 15th! Doesn't that seem close??? I'm also turning Hogwarts Students Biggest Secrets (if you are going to check it out, please do, read it from the end please because there is no need to read them in order and the first few are so _rubbish)_ and Happily Ever After (a Sirius raises Harry story!) into DU stories too! So I'm going to be _so_ busy, but it means I won't keep readers waiting so long.

Please do still review each chapter though please, because I really don't want my review count to suffer because of this. Thank you so much!

Chapter Eight

Harry Potter was extremely grateful to Remus and Dumbledore for taking him to Hogwarts Castle. Without them, he would still be back at the Dursleys, washing dishes and being a sort of manservant to his less than desirable family. If you could even call those people his family. He supposed he should be glad the Dursleys hadn't enjoyed his company; after all, why in the world would he have wanted to be liked by those horrible people anyway? He wanted to stay far away from them, horrible as they were. Why should he feel less than ecstatic that he wasn't their ideal nephew?

He wondered why it still hurt.

Of course, Remus and Dumbledore (who was now insisting he call him Albus) assured Harry that the Dursleys were mistaken in their opinion of him; that Harry was a wonderful, talented, and sweet little boy who deserved much more than the Dursleys had ever given him. And he started to believe them, with time. Over the short time Harry had been living with him, Remus had shown him what it was like to truly have someone who cared for you.

And Harry cared for Remus, too.

So he awoke the morning after his birthday not depressed over the previous day as he usually was on this day, but elated. He had had an amazing birthday, meeting new friends, getting actual presents, and feeling as if he mattered. It was wonderful to have that feeling. Remus came to greet him in the main room, and they set out for the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry took a chance and sat by Professor Snape, remembering his determination to form a sort of friendship with the man. He winced when all he received was a dark scowl.

"All right, Harry?" Professor Sprout said from across the table.

"Oh yes, and you, Professor?"

"Perfectly fine, young dear. I recommend you try the sausage, it's exceptional today, you know."

Harry pulled a couple of pieces onto his plate, along with some biscuits, a couple pieces of toast, and some thick strips of bacon. Usually Professor Sprout didn't speak at meals, at least not to him. How odd.

He turned his attention back to the Professor. "So…you teach potions? I bet that's a challenge."

The man gave him an odd, annoyed glance, and unwillingly replied, "Not for a Potions Master, Mister Potter, unless you believe my abilities to be less than perfect."

Harry grimaced. "Oh no, sir, I just meant to say it wouldn't be easy to teach a group of kids how to do something so complicated. You must have it mastered if you can teach it."

Snape blinked in surprise. Evidently, that hadn't been what he was expecting. "Yes, well. We will see if my teacher abilities can possibly help you, Potter, when you make your appearance in my class some day."

"So you'll be my teacher, then?"

"Yes, Potter, I will be your Potions teacher until your fifth year. I doubt you will scrape up the grade needed to make it to my NEWT level class."

Harry bit his lip. "I'll certainly try, sir. Potions sound fascinating, I can't wait to give it a go myself." This was, of course, a complete lie; nothing sounded as dreadfully boring as sitting in the dungeons making odd juices all day long. But if it made Snape any more gracious, it would do.

"Alright, then, Mr. Potter. Eat your breakfast and let me eat mine in peace."

Harry did so, without another word to Snape. Remus was looking at him a little strangely, as were the rest of the table, except Dumbledore; the old Headmaster was turning his eyes on full twinkle, Harry thought with a snort. Snape glanced at him with a sneer, and turned back to his plate.

"So, young Harry. When would you like to start your first flying lesson? Madam Hooch has turned up most conveniently, and she will help us assist you."

Harry glanced for the first time at the strange woman sitting next to Dumbledore. She had short, gray hair, and eyes like a hawk. But her smile was kind and he trusted her.

"Ooh…if it's not too much trouble, could we go now? Please, sir?"

Dumbledore looked at Remus, who nodded. "Yes, I believe Remus, Madam Hooch and myself are all sufficiently well fed for a couple of hours. Do you have your broom, Harry?"

Harry groaned. "No sir, it's all the way up in-"

Suddenly, the broom was zooming towards Dumbledore. His eyes widened. Sometimes magic still caught him by surprise. The four of them stood up and made their way out the front doors of the castle, onto the quidditch pitch.

Harry was bubbling with excitement, and not a little bit of nervousness. He was actually going to fly! He couldn't believe it. They reached the centre of the quidditch pitch and stopped.

Now, Harry. I want you to set your broom down next to you, on your left side, preferably."

Harry did so, a little confused. How was he going to fly with his broom on the ground? It seemed silly to him.

"Now. Raise your hand over your broom, ready to catch it."

Harry did so with mounting excitement.

"Will the broom to zoom up into your hand, and call 'UP!'"

Harry willed the broom to float up toward his hand, and, following her instruction, shouted 'UP!' as loud as he could muster. He wilted a little at the sight of his broom just rolling on the ground.

"It's quite all right Harry, I didn't expect you to even get that far on the first try. Now try again."

Harry felt more determined this time to get it right, and tried again, calling out 'UP!' and expecting the broom to zoom up into his hand. He squealed with joy when the broom _actually did it!_

Madam Hooch raised her eyebrows. "Well done, Harry, that was quite good. Now, mount your broom, and put your hands just below the handle, gripping it with your right hand on top of your left."

He did so, excited.

"Alright. Now kick off the ground, _gently_. I don't want you flying more than a foot off the ground, understand?"

Harry nodded profusely.

"Now GO!"

Harry kicked off with a tiny bit of force, and as soon as he got up in the air, he felt…peaceful, like he belonged in the air. Even if it was only about a foot away from the ground, Harry felt like he was millions of miles upward. Soon, though, he got impatient with just hovering.

"Can I try to fly now, Madam Hooch?"

She smiled lightly and nodded. "But don't try anything too daring, Mister Potter. No need to show off here."

He nodded and flew higher, trying to get the feel of moving with his broom. It didn't take long; he felt absolutely natural up here, on this broom, like he had been meant to do this all along. He pushed the broom faster, and let out a 'WHOOP!' of joy. He could see the worried, yet excited smiles on each of their faces, and, ignoring Madam Hooch's orders, suddenly went into a loop-de-loop type of move. He felt so free! This was wonderful, this was exciting, this was-

And Harry was suddenly stopped in midair, Remus pointing his wand sternly at him. "What did Madam Hooch tell you, Harry? Nothing too fancy, now, I don't want you getting hurt up there."

Harry frowned, but consented. Remus let go his hold on the boy and Harry flew towards the goal posts slowly.

Remus had explained quidditch to Harry late last night, showing Harry a diagram in mid-air with his wand and telling Harry what happened in the game. He explained the purpose of a keeper, a beater, a chaser, and a seeker. Harry thought being a seeker sounded amazing; the whole game mostly depended on the seeker for the win, and seekers were supposed to be small, slender, and quick. Just like Harry. He was looking forward to seeing school matches in the future, when school term started September First.

Remus, Albus, and Madam Hooch took a seat in the Ravenclaw stands, closest to where Harry was currently flying. Harry was definitely gifted on a broom, just like his father had been. It felt almost wrong to be the one helping Harry ride a broom, instead of his own father. He could only do his best to make sure Harry grew up knowing who his parents had been while they had been alive.

He watched Harry do another one of those nerve-wracking loop-de-loop moves, but let the boy slide this time. He deserved to have his bit of fun, especially with how peaceful he looked. It almost broke his heart to have to make the boy come down.

"Harry, we have to go back to the castle now. It's getting near dinner time."

Harry's eyes widened. He'd been out here for four hours? Come to think of it, he was getting quite hungry…

After dinner (at which Snape was not in attendance), Remus and Harry sat by the fire in the main room, like they often did at the end of the day. The two talked and joked and bonded during this time, left alone by the other inhabitants of the castle. Harry decided to confide in Remus about his situation with Snape.

"Remus," Harry began, slowly. "You know how Professor Snape doesn't like me, right?"

Remus frowned. "Harry, I wouldn't say he-"

"Well I would. So do you have any ideas as to how I can get him to be at least cordial to me?"

Remus narrowed his eyes. "Why, Harry? Has he been insulting you? If he has-"

"No, Moony, he hasn't been insulting me. I just don't want anyone here to dislike me, you know? I want everyone here to like me, I want everyone in my new home to think highly of me."

Remus sighed. "I suppose you could want a lot worse things, Harry. But I'm afraid Severus Snape is a tough man to make friends with. I suggest not pushing the man if you want his companionship, and maybe some day you'll get it."

Harry nodded. "Thanks, Remus."

Severus Snape sat in his personal quarters, pondering the behaviour of one Harry James Potter. The boy was positively infuriating, trying to force a conversation out of him every meal, but he was forbidden by the headmaster to speak to the boy in any way that was less than kind. He obeyed, and was confused as to why the order wasn't too hard for him. He couldn't possibly be developing a soft spot for the boy; could he? No, no. That simply would not do. He was, after all, Severus Tobias Snape, a man made of solid spite and cold, fine-tuned hatred. It would simply ruin him to be seen as having a sort of affection for the young boy, even if he was the child of Lily Evans.

He was also the son of James Potter.

He scolded himself for his backward thinking. What did it matter whose blood he had running through his veins? Wasn't that what he had been saying about himself for years? He supposed he couldn't very well treat the boy with disdain without seeing himself as the biggest hypocrite ever to walk the halls of Hogwarts, after all, with his less-than-pure blood lineage. He sneered. How quaint.

Severus had been quick to judge Harry Potter to be a spoiled, inconsiderate, unintelligent brat of a boy, until the seven year old child had tried his best to strike up a polite and meaningless conversation at a meal. He hadn't seen James Potter in one ounce of the boy, no matter how hard he tried. This boy was as earnest and heartfelt as Lily had been. In fact, the only part of James he could sense in the boy was his outward appearance, which was almost a mirror image.

He scowled.

Maybe the boy wasn't so bad, he admitted to himself. But he certainly did _not_ have any sort of attachment to him. No, he was simply a tolerable child. That was all. A tolerable little boy with the eyes of his dead former friend.

Not many knew, but Lily Evans had, in fact, been close to Severus Snape before the two had come to Hogwarts. He had lived near her, and seen her perform magic accidentally, saw her sister get jealous of her abilities while she herself had none to speak of. He saw the worry and confusion inside her parents when they took notice, and he saw the fear in Lily herself once she discovered the abnormality of what she could do.

He had felt extremely sorry for the little girl with no one to turn to about her abilities. One day, when Lily had been playing a game of 'hide and seek' with her older sister, Severus sought her out and told her he shared the same abilities she did, and what it meant to them. They had taken to each other instantly, Lily finally having someone who could help her with her confusion, and Severus finally having someone who wouldn't judge him for his less than perfect family.

It was a wholesome friendship, that lasted for quite a while.

Until Severus called her that foul, disgusting word. And then, nothing was the same.

_Mudblood._

How he regretted it, even now, saying such a loathsome thing to his best friend. She had meant everything to him, and he had discarded her carelessly that day, with the use of one word. All to impress the members of his filthy house. He had gone to her afterwards, apologized like he had never apologized in his life. But Lily would not accept his apology, would not have anything to do with him after that.

And that had, most likely, killed him.

Maybe he would redeem himself through this boy, maybe he could make it up to Lily by treating her son as he should have treated her. It would not be easy, but he would try. He would try for Lily, and he would try for himself.

And Harry would become the saviour of his soul.


	9. Getting Old and Quidditch Games

**Author's note:** All credit for this chapter goes to Leda Medea! A POV change in this one and a bit of a skip in time, hope you enjoy!

**Chapter Nine – **

I've always known I was smart for my age. In my 'muggle' primary school, my teachers would tell me I was 'exceptionally bright', and 'quick witted.' On the other hand, those same teachers would get hold of Dudley, and tell him he should 'follow my example in his studies.' Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were furious about this of course; they hated me, and thought Dudley exceeded me in every way possible. I was a freak, a monstrosity, a nuisance…and Dudley was a prince.

Coming to live at Hogwarts castle four years ago was the greatest thing to ever happen to me. Moony (my new guardian), Dumbledore, and the rest of the people residing in Hogwarts castle took me in like I was their own and made me the 10-year-old I am today. My best friend is Ron Weasley; the only thing we disagree on is quidditch (I mean, he likes the lousiest team…honestly, the Chudley Cannons are worse than this years Slytherins!). I've got tons of other great friends, like Neville, Luna, Susan, Dean, Seamus…I was even on good terms with Draco Malfoy (Snape was his godfather), which the others didn't like one bit. Draco wasn't that bad, really; he thought extremely well of himself, but that's only because he's a Malfoy (his father is a thousand times more egotistical). His mother always sends him with a tin of Scandinavian chocolates for me; she seems to think he's doing right by befriending me. I can only guess why.

Moony has told me everything he knows about the people I've met and the things I've seen during my short stint in the Wizarding world…he tells me in an un-biased way and lets me decide what I think without his opinion. I'm grateful for that; I want to know everything I can about this world before I actually start my lessons next year. There are four houses here at Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Draco talks about being in Slytherin like it's the only acceptable part of Hogwarts, while Ron seems to think Gryffindor is the only way to go around here. It's all just bonkers to me…I don't care where I'm placed, as long as I make friends there. Remus says he'll be proud of wherever I end up.

I've already got a start on my Hogwarts education, thanks to the friends I've made at the school. Ron's brothers here (Charlie, Fred, George, and Percy) have all been fantastic towards me, and sometimes they like to tutor me. Fred and George (the twins) say they'd like to 'see the look on Snape's face when I know what he's talking about.' I sort of look forward to that, too.

Professor Snape seems to have taken a liking to me as well, in his own, odd way. He doesn't coddle me or anything close to that, but he never shouts at me either. We actually have conversations sometimes at the dinner table, about my days and his. I guess you could say he's cordial to me, in fact. It's much better than how he used to be, at any rate. I hope it stays such.

The other professors are slightly more warm to me than Snape is, but they still don't coddle me like Remus and Dumbledore. McGonagall always calls me down to her quarters on Saturdays and we talk about nothing in particular. Sometimes she gets stressed by her classes, and she tells me our get-togethers help her relax a little. I'm glad of that; she's a sort of parent to me, I guess you could say. Like a surrogate mother, almost.

I'd like to think my parents would be proud of who I am; Remus has told me all about them. My mum had red hair and green eyes, and my dad (who was absolutely nuts over her) looked just like me, but with brown eyes. Dad was a prankster and always had to be laughing, while mum loved to read almost as much as she loved my dad. They didn't always get along though; when they were in school, my mum thought dad was a pig, and even though he asked her out almost every day, she always said no. I don't exactly know what happened to change that, but Remus always says that's a story for another day.

Today, Remus is taking Ron and I to see a quidditch game between the Holyhead Harpies and Puddlemere United. Ron's convinced that Puddlemere will win…but I think the HH are ace, and they'll bag PU, no question.

"Moony!" I called out into the main room. "Has Ron floo'ed in yet?"

"No, he's – ah, here he is."

I shook my head and bounced to the common room, excited. "Are we all ready, then?"

Ron nodded, and Remus took the floo powder from inside his robes. "Alright, Harry, you first…you know where we're heading, right? You know how to do it, step into the grate…"

I did so and Remus passed me the floo powder. Throwing a pinch down and being encircled in green flames, I cried, "Puddlemere United Quidditch Arena!" and was whisked off instantly.

It was decidedly uncomfortable to travel by floo, no matter how many times I'd done it. I kept my elbows tucked in, not wanting to catch one on the walls of a fireplace, and tried to quell the slightly sick feeling I always felt while spinning from grate to grate. Finally, I stopped spinning, and felt my feet land slightly unsteadily on solid ground. I stepped out of the grate and waited for Remus and Ron.

Ron came through first, two grates left of where I had landed. There were about twenty of them in all; there was too much trafficking for only one. Ron saw me and jogged over.

"Whatd'ya think, mate? First quidditch game together, right?"

I laughed. "Yeah, this'll be a blast…there's Remus, grate ten."

Remus spotted us, too, and came over. "You both made it intact, I assume?" We nodded.

"Good. We've got about…20 minutes or so until the game starts. Do you want to sit down now or go get something to eat?"

Ron shook his head. "I'm always hungry, but if we go eat now we'll never get to our seats in time."

I laughed, and nodded in agreement.

"Hm, let's go take our seats, then. Follow me, and don't get separated."

Ron and I followed quickly behind Remus, staying as close as possible in the large crowd of people. I was too excited for the game to think about them, though; this was only the second official quidditch match I'd ever been to; the first one, I was eight, and we'd had to leave immediately because Remus had gotten sick. He had felt so bad, but I hadn't minded. Why would I want to watch a game while Remus was pukey?

We finally got to our seats; they were great seats, low enough that you could see without binoculars, but high enough so that you weren't in danger of rogue bludgers. We took our seats next to a peculiar family; they were all dressed in blue and purple flecked robes, and their hair was done up in buns on both sides of their head (except for the man; he had a purple streak in a lock of hair). I shook my head and tried not to laugh, and took my seat between Remus and Ron. Below us, a woman was trying to play peek-a-boo with her baby; only, the baby didn't seem to like it too much…every time the mum would open her hands, the baby would shake her head and let out a moan. It was quite funny to watch, actually; it held my attention until Ludo Bagman's voice sounded over the pitch.

"_Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to today's game! We hope you enjoy yourselves and come back to see us again someday. Please note the flip-down tables on the seats in front of you, for your drink and food convenience. If you have disruptive children in your party, please either take them out of the arena or place a silencing charm so your neighbours are not disrupted. Thank you for your patience; the game will be starting shortly."_

Harry felt butterflies in his stomach; on the large screen to the right of the arena, he read off advertisement after advertisement: '_Tired of hearing static on your witches radio? Buy the new Wizaradio 510, complete with no-fuzz sound, voice inflection control, and volume that can cover over a mile! _

_Usewithcaution;,pregnant,orhaveanytypeofillness,asthisproductcoulddamageyourhealthfurther.' _Harry's eyes widened at that one, and he saw Remus sit back with wide eyes, too.

"_And now, put your hands together fooorrrrr…the Holyhead Harpies!"_

Harry screamed and clapped with the rest of his neighbours; Ron rolled his eyes.

Bagman named off each player, using that announcer-type voice of his, and the team circled the goal posts with amazing speed; Harry saw they were using Nimbus 1000s.

"_Also playing today, please welcome…PUDDLEMERE UNITED!"_

The PU fans went crazy; Ron stood up and flailed his arms around, screaming and jumping. Harry laughed at him, but stifled his giggles as Remus nudged him with a smirk of his own. Ron eventually sat down and Bagman started naming players.

"_Here comes Minogue, Crabgrass, Masen, Melovski, Johnson, Rubes aaaaand Rehkop!"_

The Puddlemere United team and the Holyhead Harpies flew down to the center of the pitch, hovering a couple feet off the ground, waiting.

And then, the game started. Both seekers flew high into the air, the PU chasers followed the Holyhead Harpies chaser Trina Melovski, who had the quaffle, both keepers zoomed to their goalposts and started circling them, and the beaters zoomed into position on the opposite ends of the pitch. Bagman kept up his constant commentary; "_Bagwell's heading down to the Harpies side, zooming with the quaffle; she fakes toward the left goal but then sinks it in the right; score for Puddlemere! Minogue zooms for the quaffle and sails toward the Puddlemere goal, but misses the shot; Johnson sure has control over his posts!"_

Harry paid no attention to this; he followed the Harpies seeker closely sometimes, other times watching the PU seeker or searching for the snitch himself; 150 points went to the team that caught the golden little ball, and ended the game. Rehkop zoomed around on her Nimbus, trying to find a flash of gold; he saw her dive, but then pull out suddenly with a disappointed stare. Larson, the PU seeker, kept his attention on Rehkop for a while, before turning his attention back to finding the snitch.

Harry stole a brief glance at the scoreboard; the Harpies had a lead of 40 points, with a score of 85 to 45. Ron was squirming in his seat, obviously wanting to get up and do something about the score. Harry stifled a laugh and turned back to watch the game.

"_And there's Crabgrass, shooting a bludger toward Bagwell on the Puddlemere side…ooh, just barely missed that one! Bagwell sails to the right and shoots the quaffle into the middle goal, but misses…nice control of those goals- and Rehkop has gone into a steep dive, has she seen the snitch?"_

Harry's breath caught as he looked to Rehkop; she was flying steadily at the ground, but…there was no snitch there, he was sure of it. What was Rehkop doing?

Larson started tailing Rehkop, catching up to her quickly; it was almost as if Rehkop _wanted_ him to catch up…and then Harry understood. Rekhop hadn't seen the snitch, she was fooling Larson into crashing into the ground…Harry gasped as Rehkop pulled out of the dive seconds before she hit the ground; Larson just barely made it out in time.

"_Ah, and a bit of trickery there by Rehkop, going into a Wronski Feint! But Larson hasn't fallen for it, and he makes it out of the dive just in time to save himself from being smashed into the field."_

The game went on like this for a while; Rehkop would fake Larson out and almost take him out of the game; Larson would always fall for it. Harry gathered that Larson wasn't the greatest seeker; he seemed to only follow Rehkop, rather than look for the snitch himself.

Harry saw a flash of gold and gasped as he saw what he knew to be the snitch floating right above the middle PU goalpost. Rehkop was on the other side of the field, but Larson was almost right there…Rehkop noticed the snitch, but Larson didn't; he was too busy watching his team. Rehkop's eyes narrowed in thought as she considered how best to make it over to the snitch…she started lazily zooming, looking in the opposite direction of the snitch, drawing no attention to the fact that she knew where the snitch was. She got closer and closer, and finally she was on even ground with Larson. She flew lazily a while longer, just so she had an edge over Larson, and then…she zoomed at top speed. Larson's head whipped around and he, too, high-tailed it to where Rehkop was heading; but Rehkop was too far ahead of Larson for him to even have a chance of catching up; she caught the snitch in her right hand and pumped her fist for everyone to see. The game was over; the score 260 to 90. Harry let out a breath and Ron put his face in his hands.

"_Rehkop's caught the snitch, the game is over! Harpies win, with a score of 260 to 90! WAY TO GO HARPIES!"_

Harry cheered loudly and smiled at Remus, who smiled back. He turned to Ron.

"Oh, be quiet Harry…they only won because of Rehkop anyways, if Larson hadn't been such a git Puddlemere would've won it."

Harry laughed. "Maybe…too bad Larson's a git and your team lost, Ron. That means I get to rub it in for at least a week."

Ron gave him a weak shove. "Yeah, yeah…next time I'm siding with you."

Moony chuckled. "Alright, now let's hustle to a grate before the crowd gets there."

Remus led them through the throng of excited Harpies fans, back to the grates that would take them home. He took out the floo powder and gave a handful to Harry and Ron, and took himself a handful as well, and they floo'ed back to Hogwarts.


	10. A Furry Little Problem

Author's note: This is the very last chapter which was written by the amazing Leda Medea, after this one I shall be continuing myself and hoping to live up to the great start she has given me. Once again, I want to say thank you to her for allowing me to continue this fic and also thanks to everyone who has reviewed!

--

Chapter 10!

"What do you mean, you have business in France and won't be back for a few days? You're always leaving, Moony, and I don't think you're just going to promote werewolf alliances or whatever cock and bull story you want me to believe. What have you really been doing?"

Remus knew it had been a mistake to keep Harry unaware of his transformations, but it had been so much easier to just keep pretending. Though, he should have seen this coming; he had raised Harry to be a bright and curious young man, after all. It was a miracle he hadn't figured it out years ago.

He said quietly, "I think it would be best if we took this to Dumbledore's office, Harry."

Harry seethed with anger. He had known for a long while now that Remus was not telling him the full truth; he always disappeared every month or so, for a few days, and coming back looking like the living dead. He'd done this so many times, and with so many ridiculous excuses, that it hadn't taken Harry long to suspect something was amiss. He'd gone through all sorts of theories; was Remus seeing someone? Or selling stolen goods? Maybe he had a secret job as an assassin? He knew these theories were ridiculous, though, and so, after about six months of heavy thought, he confronted his guardian in a bout of anger. It frustrated him to no end that Remus wasn't being honest with him; he wasn't stupid for his age; in fact, he was quite clever. So why didn't Remus trust him with what he was doing?

Remus passed him the jar of floo powder, and he took it with a frown. Now he was concerned; what was so important that it had to be discussed in Dumbledore's office? His stomach jolted, and his mind gave way for a second to the idea that Remus actually _was_ an assassin. He shook his head lightly, and threw the floo into the grate, stepping in and shouting 'Hogwarts Castle – Headmaster's Office!' He started to spin and instantly felt the nausea that came with this type of travel.

He stepped out of the grate and into the office – rather clumsily – and saw Dumbledore, looking positively serene, sitting behind his desk in his cozy high-backed chair. He sat before the headmaster and waited for Remus.

It didn't take long; after all, they were floo'ing within the same building. Remus popped out – much more gracefully than Harry had – from the grate and took his place in the chair to the right of Harry's. Dumbledore folded his hands before him and smiled.

"To what do I owe this pleasure, Remus?"

Remus fiddled with the edge of his cloak, making Harry frown; he only did this when he was exceptionally nervous. "He figured it out, Dumbledore. He figured it out."

Harry's eyes widened. Was there really something going on here? He hoped to all the gods that his theories hadn't been correct. "What do you mean I figured it out? What did I figure out?"

Dumbledore nodded; he stood and grabbed a large tome from one of his many bookcases, taking it down and setting in on his desk. Harry read the title – "A Witch and Wizard's Guide to Werewolves – Trinity Henriguez". His confusion deepened.

"Harry," Dumbledore began, "What do you know about werewolves?"

Harry frowned. "They are regular human beings except for on the full moon, when they turn into a werewolf, retaining no control over their wolf desires and instincts."

Remus sighed; Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "And what is your opinion of these beings?"

Harry's frown deepened. What did this have to do with anything? Was Remus part of a werewolf protection league or something?

"They're just like us, sir, except on full moons. I really don't see why-"

"So you're saying you have no opposition to these people?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I don't; unless they're changed and ripping my throat out, of course."

Remus grimaced.

"Harry, do you know the telltale signs of a werewolf?"

"I suppose. They're often sickly and scratched of course, from their transformations…they age much faster than normal people because of the stress the change puts on their bodies. And…and they're often...often making odd excuses for being gone…"

Harry's stomach dropped. Was Remus a werewolf? Was that what Dumbledore was trying to tell him?

"You don't…he's not…I mean…He's never…"

Dumbledore steepled his fingers. "Tell me, Harry. Have you noticed over the years how Remus has often been rushing off to meet appointments? Or see supposedly old friends? Or how he comes back each time looking much worse than when he left?"

Harry felt like vomiting. He glanced at Remus; the man was sitting with his face in his hands, not looking at Dumbledore or himself. Was this really happening?

"Are you telling me Remus is a…is a _werewolf?_"

Remus's head snapped up so fast Harry thought it just might pop off; he looked at Harry with a desperate pleading in his eyes. "Believe me, Harry, when I say that I have always, always wanted to tell you. I've just…I am just so afraid, so deeply and utterly afraid, of what you'd think of me once you knew the truth. I'm so, so sorry…Harry, please, forgive me. I-"

Harry shook his head. "You think I would be _angry_ with you for being a werewolf? For something you have no control over? Just how ignorant do you believe me to be? I'm angrier with the fact that you've been lying to me for almost five years now. Why did you think you couldn't tell me? There's nothing wrong with having a…a…furry little problem."

Remus's jaw had dropped. "I…Harry, hatred of werewolves is deeply rooted into all societies, but especially the magical one. I didn't think you were ignorant or anything like that, I just…I was afraid you would want to leave, to go back to the Dursleys, once you knew the truth, and I- I couldn't have handled that."

Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes landed on Harry, and he felt as if his soul was laid bare. Of course he had no problem with Remus being a werewolf; how inconsiderate and foolish would that have been? He loved Moony more than anything in the world, and the man had taken so much care for Harry not to be around his furred counterpart that the boy hadn't even _known. _He felt embarrassed and ashamed that he hadn't figured it out sooner.

"I'm sorry, Remus," he said quietly. "I should have known you would never keep something from me that would hurt me. Forgive me?"

"Remus shook his head profusely. "No, Harry…why would you think you need to be forgiven? I should've told you sooner, I should've set you down and let you ease into this instead of having you figure it out by yourself. I'm so sorry, Harry."

Dumbledore stood, clasping Harry and Remus on the back, and setting his book back on it's shelf. "You see, Remus? I knew he'd have no qualms about it." His eyes twinkled merrily. "And now, I say we get Remus settled for his transformation. I daresay we'll have an easier time of it now."

Harry let Remus take him into a fierce hug. "No more secrets, cub," Remus whispered, "I promise, no more secrets."

Harry nodded into the older man's shoulder and let him lead the trio through the door and down the spiral staircase. "So…where do we go from here?"

By seven that night, everything was set for Remus's transformation. His guardian had taken his Wolfsbane (a potion that allows its werewolf drinker to keep his or her mind during the werewolf stage), prepared his body by stretching and exercising (to make the wolf tired out so that he could, hopefully, sleep through the whole thing), and set him in the shrieking shack, a place that was supposedly haunted. Harry felt incredibly stupid, realizing that he had been oblivious to the fact that Remus had stayed relatively within school grounds every time he left to go on one of him many excused absences. Dumbledore let him stay in his guest quarters, to make sure Harry was not all by himself with his concerns for his guardian.

The night went by incredibly slow; he and Dumbledore watched through the Office window as the full moon rose up in the night sky; Harry could've sworn he heard a distant howl, but then put it off as his imagination. He shivered. Remus was changing this very moment, and there was nothing Harry could do to help him.

Harry sat with the headmaster for almost half an hour, before the elder wizard tapped him on the shoulder. "Harry, I believe it is time to get some rest. We shall go see our dear friend in the morning; right now, all we can do is dream."

So the two went their separate ways and slept away the rest of the night.

Remus sat on the broken, torn sofa in the shrieking shack, bracing himself for his transformation. He thought about Harry, as he did every time he sat in this sad, dilapidated building, and wondered, not for the first time, what Harry was thinking. He supposed it was about him tonight; this morning's revelation had been a shock, to say the least. Remus hadn't thought the boy would figure it out until well into his school years, but he had been wrong. Harry was clever; he shouldn't have been surprised.

The moon started to peek above the night's clouds, and Remus flinched. The wolf inside of him was clawing at his insides, desperate to get out for the night and roam the countryside. The Wolfsbane potion helped considerably, but not enough to completely subdue the wolf; it was still an aching madness inside of him, just not as terrible and deep as it was meant to be.

Remus first felt his arms and legs stretch out; the familiar pain was no less hard to bear than it was his first change, but Remus beared it much better. Next was his torso, and then his feet, and finally his face; the fur started to sprout up, and Remus felt his vision change from human to wolf-like. His nose turned wet and he could smell the hours-old stench of Albus Dumbledore, who had sat on the couch next to him, and his charge Harry Potter, still stinking up the armchair. He let out a whine; his voice had gone, replaced with his animalistic growls and whines. The smell of his cub evoked an aching hole inside him, and he longed to run up to the castle and take him away with him. He fought the thought of that; he didn't want to think of Harry before he changed, for it would only be a harder night if he did. Instead, his last human thought was that of the book Dumbledore had shown Harry, and how he would ask Dumbledore when he got back if he could read it. And then, he was gone.

Harry awoke to sunlight streaming through a large window, right upon his face. He grunted and slipped out of bed, confusion sprouting as he realized he was not in his own room. Then he remembered; he was in Dumbledore's guest room, and Remus was down in the Shrieking Shack, and he's…

He's a werewolf.

Harry shook his head in wonderment at his own stupidity. How had he not seen the signs? Remus was always sickly and pale, and was always leaving…he always told Harry the second he started to smell, or when something on his person looked the tiniest bit out of place. And when Remus got angry, he was almost _primal_, in a way that Harry had always thought frightening. He was glad his guardian was so even-tempered.

He stepped out of the Headmaster's Guest Room and into the attached bathroom, taking a quick shower before going down to greet the (hopefully awake) headmaster. He wasn't disappointed; Dumbledore was sitting in his special common room, sipping on Earl Grey and looking as though he was waiting for Harry to come down to see him.

"Ah, Harry," Dumbledore smiled. His eyes twinkled merrily. "You've slept well, I trust?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, sir," he said. "Thank you for letting me stay in your rooms."

Dumbledore waved the thanks away. "You know you're welcome here any time, Harry. I'm afraid, though, you might have to stay here a while longer; Remus usually sleeps almost the whole day after his transformations, you see. He tells me they are a bit tiring."

Harry choked out a laugh.

"Now, my dear boy," Dumbledore said. "What would you like to do today? It is summer, after all, and growing boys such as yourself hardly ever wish to stay inside. What do you say to a day in Hogsmeade, my treat?"

Harry brightened instantly. "Well, if it's not too much trouble on yourself, sir, that sounds great."

Dumbledore clapped his hands. "No trouble at all, my boy! I've wanted to renew my stock of lemon drops and Bertie Bott's for a couple weeks now, and this outing shall prove to be beneficial to my sweet tooth." He smiled jovially and stood, straightening his silver and neon yellow robes. "Off we go!"


	11. A Hogsmeade Visit

Author's note: This is the very first chapter I have written myself, I have to admit I'm a bit worried about posting it. I have such a high standard to live up to after Leda's chapters! I really hope this doesn't disappoint you!

Chapter 11: A Hogsmeade Visit. 

"Now which shop would you like to go in first, my boy?" Dumbledore asked warmly as they walked through Hogsmeade's bright streets.

"Do they have one of those shops which sell potions ingredients?" Harry asked hopefully.

"An apothecary?" Dumbledore raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Why would you ask that, child?"

"I want to get some stuff from there." Harry deliberately looked at the ground as he spoke so he didn't have to look into the man's questioning blue eyes.

"Severus has store cupboards stocked with all manner of things, I'm sure he will consent to you having a couple of ingredients."

Harry shook his head. "I want to buy some."

"But Harry, whatever are you going to use them for?"

"It's…it's a present for someone."

"Ah!" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he immediately jumped to the conclusion that the present was for Severus, of course that would be why he couldn't take the things from the man's stores. "Then I shall lead the way!"

Harry kept pace with the elderly man, keeping his gaze firmly fixed on the floor so his red face was hidden from view. Remus wouldn't be very happy at all if he knew Harry had been lying. He always said lying was one of the worst things he could do. But Harry needed those ingredients and he knew if he told everyone the reason why they would immediately forbid him from going through with it.

Remus was _suffering_, Harry didn't see why no one was doing anything about it. Whenever Harry was ill, Professor Snape always came up with horrible yucky potions which made him crinkle up his face but did make him better. If a potion could cure illness, why had no one thought to give Remus one yet?

"Here we go, Harry. This should stock everything you desire." Dumbledore announced, halting outside a poky little shop which could quite easily have been mistaken for a shed.

Harry looked at the grimy door uncertainly before hardening his resolve and going inside. Inside the shop looked no better, it was so cramped it would not have been able to cater for more than two customers at a time. There was lines of aisles which were lined by shelves jammed with all manner of bottles and jars. The walls were covered in pegs which shimmering string (or so it looked) were hung on, and more indescribably obscure objects surrounded it.

Harry could barely fit through the aisles so he didn't see how an adult would ever manage it, the jars stuck out at all angles and so he kept his arms very firmly to his sides for fear of knocking something off. He had no idea which ingredients would be most useful so he decided that he might need to experiment a bit. But so long as it was a potion, it would cure Remus, because it was magic.

Harry's eyes widened as he saw a big jar which had a picture of a wolf on the front, that certainly looked promising. He squinted at the writing but it was so faded that he still couldn't make out what it said. Nonetheless, he reached out and carefully lifted it off the shelf, causing a bang as the other jars fell forwards to cover up the gap.

The jar was heavier than it looked but Harry took that as a good sign, if it was heavier it was probably stronger and Remus would definitely need something strong because he had a _big_ illness.

Harry decided that he would need about seven ingredients, Remus said that seven was the most powerful magic number, and so if he put seven ingredients in then surely the potion would be powerful too.

Harry browsed the dusty shelves some more. Hoping for something else to catch his eye, but everything seemed to be the same. All tiny brown jars with unreadable writing scribbled across the front, some of the labels were handwritten and these were not as faded. But the writing on those jars was so messy that Harry couldn't work out any of it at all.

Maybe that was what drew him to a small blue bottle right at the back of the store, it looked like a drinks bottle in appearance and it had a label slapped across the front just like the rest of them. But this one was not faded and not handwritten, this one was printed and it was completely legible. Harry picked it up eagerly.

"Knotgrass, used to reverse transformations," he carefully read aloud. "Sounds perfect!"

His hands now full of the two big jars Harry couldn't even shift the jars along the shelf to search properly, but he did find a large stripy red and gold thing which he added to the pile. Nothing in Gryffindor colours could be very harmful.

Ten minutes later, fed up of trying to work out what the little jars were, Harry just selected them based on their colour. He got up to seven ingredients after adding, one red jar, one gold paste, one blue waxy substance and a large silver circular tub which sort of reminded Harry of the moon which seemed appropriate.

He staggered over to the counter, needing several trips through the tiny shop in order to take the little pile of ingredients he had stacked on the floor over to where an elderly man was sat dozing.

Harry hadn't noticed him the whole time he had been in the shop, and the man hadn't seemed to notice him either.

Harry cleared his throat hopefully, the man didn't budge.

"Erm…hello?" Harry attempted, when the man still didn't awaken Harry turned to look out of the shop window where he could see the neon-robed Dumbledore waiting, he seemed completely content just sorting through his pockets, smiling at some of his discoveries every now and again.

"May I pay, please?" Harry asked.

"Eugh? What?" The man's eyes suddenly shot open and suddenly became very suspicious as he scrutinised Harry. "What you doing here then?"

"I would like to pay for these, please." Harry repeated.

The man continued to look sceptical, but he began to enter numbers into the till, mumbling crossly as he did so.

"That will be thirty galleons." The man grumbled.

Harry's eyes widened, he never knew potions cost so much to make. Professor Snape must have spent a _lot_ of money making him better over the years. Slightly reluctantly, Harry handed over some of his birthday money.

"Thank you," he said politely before turning around and leaving the shop.

"All done? I hope you don't mind me not accompanying you, that shop is rather small for more than one person at a time." Dumbledore greeted.

"That's fine, sir." Harry assured him.

The rest of the day went quickly with Dumbledore replenishing his sweet supplies in Honey dukes (and Harry getting rather a lot too), a nice visit around Zonkos (where Harry got a few things which Dumbledore promised not to tell Remus about so the boy could trick him with them), a look around the owls at the post office (which Harry always loved to see) and a quick drink in the Three Broomsticks where Madam Rosmerta loved to talk to him and delight over his increasingly similar appearance to his parents.

Dumbledore frowned as the two stepped into the floo to go back to the castle, Harry had appeared to have a good time but he had been unusually quiet all day; as if he was pondering something.

"Oof!" Harry groaned as the floo spat him out very unceremoniously. His frown turned into a wide smile as he saw someone sitting in front of the headmaster's desk. "Remus!"

"There you are, Harry! Did you have a nice day?" Remus smiled warmly at the boy, though it was coupled with a slight wince as the long cuts across his face smarted. He smiled in greeting at Dumbledore, who stepped through the fire at that moment.

"Yep, we went around Zonkos, and Honeydukes!" Harry exclaimed. He made sure he didn't mention the trip to the apothecary. Remus didn't need to know anything yet, not till it was brewed. The first he would know about it, was when it was all brewed and served up and he would drink it and would get all better and not get hurt anymore.

As he worriedly took in the deep scratches on his guardian's face, Harry knew he would have to make the potion soon.

It didn't take him long to decide that he would do it the following night, tonight he knew Remus would be restless, as he always was following a 'disappearance' but by tomorrow he would be extremely tired and so would hopefully fall into a deep sleep. Leaving Harry to sneak into the Potions lab and make his concoction…


	12. Brewing up Trouble

Author's note: I'm so glad everyone thinks I'm doing an acceptable job of continuing the story! Here is chapter twelve!

I'm sorry I had a couple of days without an update, I do have an excuse but I won't go into it now. Hope the chapter makes up for it!

Chapter 12: Brewing up Trouble. 

Harry pulled a face as the door creaked as he pushed it open, but the soft snoring from his guardian's room did not waver. He tip-toed out, closing the door carefully behind although the click sounded loud in the still night.

The corridors of Hogwarts were dark and creepy, the only light coming from tiny candles which were floating along the edges and casting a gloomy glow more than actual light. Harry shivered, he hated the dark and as much as he loved Hogwarts during the day; the castle was spooky and cold after hours.

He began to jog slightly, both to warm himself up and to make the journey go faster. The trip to Professor's Snape's dungeons had never seemed to take so long before. He switched the hand he was using to carry the heavy bag which contained his precious ingredients.

The previous day had passed quickly and without incident, if Dumbledore had told Remus about Harry's mysterious 'gifts' the man did not let on or show any suspicion. Remus had suggested an early night and so Harry had had quite a few hours sleep before his 'midnight expedition'. He only hoped Professor Snape had already retired for the night too.

The steep steps down to the dungeon seemed a lot closer than Harry remembered and he only caught himself from falling by gripping the wall. He might have yelped, but if he did then Professor Snape didn't seem to have heard as the door to his chambers remained closed.

Harry almost ran to the small office where he knew Professor Snape brewed sometimes, it would have everything he needed and was adequately far away from the man's chambers; the last thing he needed was the man to wake up.

The room simply held a large worktable with a big cauldron standing on top. It was high, and Harry had to kneel on the old stool to be able to reach. Sighing in relief, he emptied out all of the ingredients on the table around him. He had got this far, surely if he was going to be caught he would be caught by now.

He had never brewed a potion before, despite his begging to Professor Snape. He wondered how you were supposed to start, you obviously needed some sort of liquid in there first.

He studied the little jars before selecting the runniest, the red bottled liquid. Feeling a bit like George out of George's Marvellous Medicine, which had been his bedtime story that night, he poured the full lot in. It hissed and crackled, even though Harry hadn't even lit the flame under the cauldron yet.

Harry watched the cauldron in apprehension, was it _supposed_ to make noises? Deciding that he couldn't really start again now, he quickly added the large stripy gold thing which floated on top of the red liquid like a gigantic snake.

Harry glared at it angrily, it wasn't a _Slytherin_ potion! Hoping it would sink or melt, he quickly added the ingredient from the circular moon tub. But that just floated on the top too making the red thing look even more like a snake.

What Harry needed was to make the potion hot so it would melt, he peeked under the cauldron and could just make out the place the flame was supposed to be, but how was he supposed to light it?

He needed a wand so that he could think really hard about fire and then it would appear, he had done that before to get sweets once when Remus told him he wasn't allowed pudding that day because he accidentally put sneezing powder on Professor Trelawney's dinner. Remus didn't understand anyway; it was _annoying_ when she kept predicting his death.

But it was too late to go back and get a wand now.

Besides, Remus had said he must never ever ever play with magic or fire, this wasn't _playing_ but he was sure Remus wouldn't see it that way. He would just have to make a cold potion, and it would just have to have the snake thing floating around, at least it was in Gryffindor colours.

Harry's smile grew as, when he added the gold paste, the potion became a deep blue. That proved it was working! He began to hum happily as the knotgrass turned it green, and then the blue waxy substance turned it orange. In hardly any time at all, he only had one ingredient left; the huge jar with the wolf picture on front. He knew this was the key ingredient.

He panted as he lifted it as high as the cauldron top before tipping it so the heavy liquid could drip through, his arms ached but he held it there until the substance stopped coming out. He nearly dropped the jar in his eagerness to peer at his potion now; it was a bright yellow. _Finished_.

It even was the colour of sunshine and just radiated happiness, Harry just _knew_ that it would cure Remus. He scrambled across the room to get a glass vial off the shelf, his eyes widened as he saw the violent bubbling his potion was making by the time he got back. Quickly, he scooped the vial into the cauldron and took some out, the portion in the vial immediately became calm; which was more than could be said for the fierce liquid in the cauldron which was now crashing around so much it threatened to go over the top.

Harry shoved the vial into his pocket and took a hasty step back from the cauldron, he was about to start cautiously making his way back over to it again when a deep voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Another display of your idiocy and Gryffindor suitability, Potter?"

"P-p-professor Snape! I-"

"If you imagine I have nothing better to do then sit around listening to your foolish babbling and excuses then you are sorely mistaken. You can explain yourself to the wolf." Snape snapped, waving a hand over the close to exploding potion which immediately vanished.

Harry watched the long black cloak billow out behind the teacher as he stormed back down the corridor, he really wanted to learn how to do that, but now really didn't seem to be the time to ask and so he quickly scuttled after the irate man.

Harry pleaded for Professor Snape not to tell Remus all the way back to the rooms he had left such a small amount of time ago, but Professor Snape's heart was as cold as ever and all too soon Harry found himself staring very hard at his feet and trying to ignore the disappointed gaze Remus was concentrated on him. Harry hated it when Remus was angry with him, but he hated when he was disappointed even more.

The door slammed as Snape stalked back the way he had come, Remus and Harry were left alone and the fidgeting Harry was finding it extremely hard to ignore the man's eyes.

"Remus…I…"

Remus held up a hand. "We shall discuss this in the morning, Harry, it is 1am and you need your sleep."

"But Remus, I'm so-"

"To bed, Harry."

Harry went, reluctantly.

---

That night seemed to stretch on forever despite how short it was compared to normal. Harry couldn't take his shoes where he had carefully hidden the vial, he still had to get that to Remus. Even though the man was going to be very cross with Harry and would probably stop him from having dessert for _days_ and might even say he can't play Quidditch at the weekend, he still didn't want him to be a werewolf.

The second light came through the gap in his curtains, Harry was up and scrambling into his clothes. He had to be up before Remus.

Luckily, as Harry made a cup of tea, the door to his guardian's room remained tightly shut. It had taken him all night to come up with this plan, but Harry was pretty proud of it. He would give Remus a cup of tea in the morning, as he sometimes (well, very occasionally) did anyway, and Remus would still be too sleepy to be suspicious and he would drink it down and then be all cured and he would be so happy about that that he would totally forget that he still had to tell Harry off.

Harry couldn't stop the grin on his face as he tipped the potion into the cup with a very tiny bit of tea right at the bottom. His grin faded as he looked at his masterpiece. The cup of tea was bright yellow, not even Remus (who had been up in the middle of the night) would be tired enough to fall for that. He needed to turn it brown…

Harry's grin made a very quick comeback as he rushed to the cooking equipment cupboard and found a bottle of brown food dye, left over from when Remus and Harry had made Rudolphs for Christmas. He tipped a few drops in, not wanting it to go to brown and smiled in satisfaction as it turned a very tea-y colour.

He quickly neutralised his expression and even managed to look a little sad and sorry as he took the tea to Remus's room, after all, he _was_ supposed to be in trouble.

Remus sat up in bed as the boy made his way towards him, carefully carrying a cup of tea. He smiled softly at him, rather surprised and grateful even though he was sure the boy was just doing it because he knew he was in trouble and wanted to put his guardian in a good mood before they had to talk. Harry was very much like his father in some ways.

"I hope you like it." Harry whispered and, after nodding at the man's sincere thanks, Harry disappeared out of the room trying very hard not to put too much spring into his step or to look too excited.

Remus smiled down at the tea, the smile fading as he noticed the strange haze it seemed to have. He carefully raised it higher to look at it curiously, Harry had always made nice tea before. But this was…

The density was all wrong, the colour was off and, Remus took a sniff and then immediately crinkled up his nose from the stench, it definitely smelt wrong too. He leant over and tipped a tiny amount of the drink into the potted plant decorating the room, it shrivelled and died immediately.

Remus sighed. "Harry!"

-----

"So, you did manage to take some of the potion before Severus got rid of it?" Remus sighed.

"Umm…yes." Harry shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

"And so, you decided to spike a cup of tea with it with the sole intention of me consuming it?"

"Umm…yes?"

"Despite the fact that it could have made me seriously ill or…worse?"

Harry's eyes prickled with tears. "But it was going to make you better!"

Remus's eye brows rose. "I'm not ill, Harry. And if I was I would go down to the Hospital wing and get a temperature reducer potion, even _I _would never attempt to brew any health-care potions myself."

"But, you _are_ ill and no one is giving you a potion to make you better and so…so…"

"And so you did?"

Harry nodded, his head hanging slightly.

"What makes you think I'm ill, Harry?" Remus asked the boy curiously.

"You said you were!"

Remus thought back to the previous day, had he complained of a headache? Showed any signs of nausea? He couldn't think of a single example, he had felt very well that day considering how close it was to the full moon. "When did I say I was, Harry?"

Harry felt like stamping his foot in frustration. "In Dumbledore's office! You said you were a…you had a furry little problem!"

He watched as comprehension dawned on Remus.

"You were making something to stop me from being a werewolf?" The man's voice sounded oddly tight.

"Yes, only to help so you didn't get hurt or tired anymore. I wasn't trying to hurt you, honest!"

"Oh, Harry." Remus's eyes moistened up. "Oh, Harry."


	13. Learning, kinda

Author's note: This chapter is unlucky for some, lol! Hope it's not unlucky for any of you! It's short I'm afraid.

I do not own Harry Potter, though I wish I did. (Think of all the fans!)

I do not own Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, though I wish I did. (Think of all the chocolate!)

I do not own George's Marvellous Medicine, though I wish I did. (Think of the…erm…giant chicken?)

Chapter 13: Learning, kinda

Harry carefully studied Remus as the man read a book aloud, he looked tired and strained but his eyes were the same soft amber that they always were when he was relaxed.

That morning, Remus had sat him down and told him that he was _never_ to brew potions without permission and supervision and had explained (in very boring and painstaking detail) all of the wrong choices Harry had made and _why_ they were the wrong choices. Then he had explained that there was _no_ potion for curing lycanthropy but that Harry was a very caring, sensitive, little (which Harry had taken great offence to) boy.

Harry wasn't sure whether he was supposed to get the message that he had been bad for doing so many things wrong, or good for being a _caring, sensitive, little _(bleh) _boy. _But when Remus had suddenly produced a family bag of chocolate frogs and Harry had sat on his knee devouring them while listening to 'George's Marvellous Medicine' ("which should _not_ be attempted, Harry!") for the second time, he took it to be the latter.

"Harry?" Remus's voice suddenly broke into his thoughts.

"Oh! Sorry. I _was _listening." Harry assured him.

Remus merely looked slightly amused as he lay a worksheet in front of his ward. "Then you should have no trouble answering these on the passage I just read."

Harry flushed. "Or…we could recap and you could just quickly read it again?" He suggested, hopefully.

Luckily, Remus chuckled and picked the book back up in a way that reminded Harry just why Dumbledore had said how extraordinarily patient Remus was.

He tried to concentrate, he really did, but every time he attempted to take note of what the passage was even _about_ he kept thinking back to the talk he and Remus had had that morning. There _had_ to be some cure, Harry had never had an illness that Remus couldn't sort out so how come it didn't work the other way round? Maybe the potion wasn't such a great idea but surely there was _some_ way he could-

"Harry!"

Ohh, Remus's patience was slipping.

"Yes, Remus?" Harry asked, trying to pretend that he had been fully attentive all the way through.

"I've said you can start now three times."

"Oh." Harry picked up the quill and stared hard at the paper.

_1) Who is the first person to get a golden ticket? _

That gave him no clue whatsoever what the questions were about, what _was_ a Golden ticket?

"You know, Remus, don't you think we should do some questions on George's Marvellous Medicine? There's so much more to work with." Harry said casually.

"This is by the same author." Remus remarked.

"Oh." Harry sighed as he realised he probably would have liked this book _much_ more than he liked the 'Hamlet' of last English lesson. He should have known Remus would have chosen a book he would like, considering his present good mood.

"You still haven't been listening, have you?"

Harry let his breath out in relief as he caught the amusement in Remus's voice.

"I did _try_."

The merriment gone, Remus moved his chair closer to Harry's and looked at him worriedly. "What's the matter, Harry?"

"There _has_ to be a cure, Remus, there just has to be!"

Remus pulled the boy onto his knee, sighing heavily. "Harry, when I was young and at Hogwarts Sirius and James were convinced they had to be a cure too. They tried potions, spells, old traditions, _everything_. I just kept ending up ill, and even poisoned at one time. So many people have tried, Harry, and no one has succeeded."

"But there has to be a first person to succeed." Harry pointed out. "And it's going to be me!"

Remus couldn't help the smile which was creeping onto his face. "Just promise me you won't do it until you're of age and only then when you are with people and have had proper training and even then I doubt your success, Harry, though I would be so proud of you just for attempting it."

"I will, Remus, I will!"

"When you're seventeen." Remus repeated, and then noticing Harry's silence added "promise?"

"S'pose." Harry grumbled ungraciously. "But I bet I could do it now."

Remus chuckled, ruffling up his 'little one's' hair even though in reality his 'little one' was no longer very little.

"Shall I try and read this extract of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' one more time?" Remus asked.

"We could eat some chocolate while we did it, it would help me to…ah…concentrate." Harry suggested slyly.

"Or, we could read it and you could do the questions and then if you get at least eight right we can have chocolate?"

"And visit Hagrid?"

"Deal!"

---

One nice, big, chocolate frog later. Remus and Harry were on their way to Hagrid's hut…


	14. Rowing with Remus

Author's note: The updates are meant to be daily, but sixth form is much more work than I thought it should be and I really have to put that first. So, updates might be a bit sporadic, well…they might be every day for a while and then I might miss a couple of days and then they will be every day again. It will be _mostly_ everyday anyway.

And the chapter title says 'rowing' as in arguing and not as in paddling around in little boats. Just wanted to clear that up, lol!

Thanks for the reviews!

Chapter fourteen: Rowing with Remus. 

"Harry." Remus said warningly.

Harry folded his arms across his chest and glared at his guardian, it wasn't like he was asking to do something dangerous, he just wanted to go into the forbidden forest with Hagrid. He'd been asking _forever_ but Remus had always said he wasn't old enough, and then Hagrid didn't ask again for such a long time. But Harry was _ten_ now and Hagrid had asked again and Remus was saying _no_ again.

"Why _not_?" Harry whined.

"You're only young, Harry, _far_ too young to go into the forest. It's full of all sorts of dangerous things which could harm you."

"But I'll be with Hagrid!"

"But you always manage to sneak off somewhere and you'll get hurt."

"How old do I have to _be_?" At least then he would be able to count down.

"Of age!"

"But that's seven years away!"

"When you're of age you can go with Hagrid, at least then if you do wander off you'll be able to protect yourself."

"I won't wander off!"

"If you prove to me that you can stay glued to Hagrid's side and not going off by yourself then I'll consider it." Remus compromised at last.

"So I can go?" Harry asked hopefully.

"No! When you've proved you're responsible enough!" Remus said in exasperation.

"But how can I prove I'll stay by his side if I don't get to go?"

"Prove you are responsible and I'll let you go." Remus promised, shooting an apologetic look at Hagrid who looked like he was trying to keep as out of it as possible.

--

"It's so unfair." Harry moaned as the pair walked back to the castle.

"You're in a very whiny mood today." Remus commented.

"You're being unfair." Harry retorted.

"I just don't want you getting hurt."

"I _won't_, I'll be with Hagrid!"

"But you'll wander off."

"I _won't_!"

Remus sighed. "Do you want some dinner?"

"Not hungry."

"Do you want to read George's Marvellous Medicine?"

"Nah."

Remus was fast running out of options. "Visit Albus?"

Harry considered. "Will you let me have more than one lemon drop?"

Remus chuckled. "Two."

"Three!" Harry bargained.

"Are you going to stop whining about the forest?"

"I don't _whine_…yes."

"Three then." Remus agreed, swinging the boy up into his arms.

"Reeeemus! I'm too old for that!" Harry protested, but his wide grin contradicted his words.

In the shadows, Snape glared as the pair went past noisily. Harry squealing at the top of his voice and Remus chuckling too.

Distracting students from their work.

Causing a ruckus in the corridor.

It was a shame that the glare was hindered by his eyes which held a happy glimmer.

Sweet Merlin, Severus Snape was getting extraordinarily close to having eyes like Albus Dumbledore.

---

"Reeemus! Put me down!" Harry choked between giggles as Remus flipped him upside down.

With a plop, Harry landed back on the floor. Slightly disappointed, he looked up at his guardian questionably.

"Fizzing Whizzbees." Remus said clearly.

With a jolt of surprise, Harry realised they were standing beside the gargoyle which led to Dumbledore's office and which quickly sprang open.

Harry bounded down to the office, it wasn't so much Dumbledore he liked seeing. It was more Fawkes and sherbet lemons.

That was why Harry made a beeline for the cage in the corner. "Hey, Fawkes! It's me. Guess what? I get to have _three_ sherbet lemons today. But Remus says he won't let me go into the forest with Hagrid and-"

"Harry, Remus, do sit down." Dumbledore greeted. "I had been just about to request a meeting."

Exchanging curious glances, Remus and Harry both sank down into chairs.

"I do have something I really ought to tell you." Dumbledore began.


End file.
